FXB Foundation - The FXB Home Palliative Care Center in Sion (Valais, Switzerland)

PALLIATIVE CARE AT THE HUMAN HEART

Founded in 1992 on the initiative of Albina du Boisrouvray, this care and support structure was created to enable people at the end of life to remain at home, surrounded by their loved ones.

"It was in Valais, in 1988, that I met Sister Irène Seppey, nurse and director of the School of Nursing, and her psychologist friend Annie-Moria Venetz. Both, like me, had just gone through particularly painful bereavements, one having lost her nephew, the other her son. Together, we joined forces and, within the framework of the Foundation bearing my son's name, founded the FXB Centre in Sion, dedicated to the practice and development of palliative care at home. This project responded to the wish expressed by 70% of patients in a survey: to be able to die at home rather than in hospital." - Albina du Boisrouvray

From 1992 to 2009, the CFXB offered home-based palliative care to anyone living in the central Valais region, in the irreversible phase of an illness when curative medicine proved powerless. The CFXB's approach is comprehensive. On a day-to-day basis, it combines nursing care with psychological and practical support for both the sick person and those around them. Albina also wanted to alleviate the moral pain of patients and their families, and it was with this in mind that she was keen to set up bereavement groups, which are indispensable pillars of the multidisciplinary team's action. 800 people have been supported by the FXB Center team.

On January 1, 2010, the CFXB ceased operations for good. The entire team - its experience and the countless skills acquired over 18 years - was integrated into the Pôle de compétences en médecine et soins palliatifs of the Réseau Santé Valais.