An ADHD resource center is coming soon to the PACA region

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects nearly two million French people, including 640,000 young people under the age of 20. However, diagnosis often remains late, waiting times are interminable, and treatment is very uneven, with academic, social, and psychiatric repercussions.

To address this situation, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regional Health Agency will designate an ADHD resource center, funded to the tune of €198,000. This project is part of the 2023-2027 national strategy on neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), which requires each region to structure a sector around hub centers. In the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, establishments have until September 23 to submit their applications. The challenge: to establish specialized teams and strengthen partnerships.

This future center will be tasked with coordinating the entire regional sector. It will build on the existing coordination and guidance platforms (PCO), currently reserved for children aged 0 to 12, but will expand its reach to adolescents and adults. The goal is to offer a continuous pathway, involving child psychiatrists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, neurologists, as well as speech therapists, occupational therapists, neuropsychologists, and independent psychologists.

The priorities are clearly stated: reducing diagnostic delays, training caregivers and teachers, making the services available more easily accessible through a regional directory, and ensuring equitable access, including in rural areas. The center will also need to handle complex situations and ensure coordination between different levels of care. It is expected to open by the end of 2025, with nationwide rollout planned for 2026.

For Dr. Hervé Caci, a child psychiatrist at Lenval Hospital and president of the ADHD Paca association, this project is also an opportunity to change mentalities. " We still too often reduce this disorder to laziness or an educational problem, when in fact it is a neurodevelopmental disorder. We also think that it only affects children, when in fact it often persists into adulthood, with symptoms that evolve. And no, not all ADHD is hyperactive: there are also inattentive forms, which are more discreet and therefore harder to spot, especially in girls."

And to temper: "This resource center will represent a step forward. But funding remains limited given the scale of the project, and the inequalities in access to care between the coast and the valleys will not disappear overnight."