Partnership between Viaposte and Station Debout to keep disabled people physically and socially active

After launching a partnership with Agefiph (Fund Management Association for the Professional Integration of Disabled People) in June 2024, Viaposte intends to take its commitment to this often disadvantaged group even further.

Against this backdrop, a sponsorship agreement has been signed with Station Debout, a not-for-profit organisation set up by IRME in 2022 (Institute for Spinal Cord and Brain Research).

Through this partnership, Viaposte is playing an active part in financing a centre dedicated entirely to the rehabilitation of disabled people, and is working hand in hand with various players, including Louvre Banque Privée, which was behind its creation.

Read the testimonies of those who are at the heart of this project, and find out what goes on behind the scenes of a partnership that has a bright future ahead of it.

Station Debout: where it all began

Station Debout was set up two years ago as a result of sponsorship by IRME and Louvre Banque Privée. The project to develop this post-operative rehabilitation centre for people with neurological disabilities aims to maintain regular physical activity by taking over after the end of a 'standard' hospital treatment protocol.

There are many issues at stake:

• Promoting greater professional and social inclusion;
• Maintaining independence;
• Limiting disruptions to care;
• Reduce both physical and psychological complications;
• Propose new approaches and devices based on innovative technologies.

The provision of specially adapted medical equipment in a friendly, inclusive centre is the key to the success of this project, and makes this place unique.

Viaposte and its commitment to the professional inclusion of disabled people

The inclusion of workers with disabilities is at the heart of our company's commitments. With a number of strong partnerships with associations such as Log'ins and our major involvement in professional disability events such as DuoDay, Viaposte is now turning a new page in its history with Station Debout, by taking part in a research project on the rehabilitation of neuro-disabilities.

Sophie Blancho, IRME General Delegate, takes the floor

After training in clinical research and experience in oncology and blood diseases, Sophie Blancho joined the IRME and has been General Delegate for the last ten years. With her team and the help of neurologists, she played an active part in developing the Station Debout project, and tells us what she thinks: "The main idea behind Station Debout was to complement the rehabilitation carried out in a conventional structure. We realised that many people were being left to fend for themselves at the end of this primary care protocol. This project was an immediate response to the need for support for people with neuro-disabilities.”

Sophie Blancho emphasises the importance of sponsorship, such as that signed with Viaposte, in raising public awareness and ensuring that this type of centre becomes a standard feature in France, as is the case with private centres opened abroad. "Our long-term aim is to extend treatment to all types of spinal cord injury.”

To the question of how you participate in the development of new medical devices, Ms Blancho humbly replies: "The IRME looks for equipment for upper-limb or lower-limb re-training whose benefits are worth evaluating, and offers to test it with manufacturers. In return, the institute undertakes to give its opinion and to play an active part in improving and adjusting this equipment. The scientific publication of clinical results is an integral part of this.”

In terms of the typical care pathway, Station Debout welcomes two categories of profiles:

• patients included in a research protocol;
• people outside the research protocol, who come to take part in one or more activities, for whom the benefits are also measured.

"We've created a small circuit and network: if someone comes in and encounters a problem, we do everything we can to help and support them, redirecting them if necessary into a care pathway, we don't let them down.”

Any final words? Sophie Blancho would like to stress the importance of close partnerships with companies like Viaposte. Thanks to these special relationships, "companies are in a better position to offer their employees the opportunity to take charge of their disability, which is not only in line with their CSR policy, but also helps to develop their employability".

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