BackgroundAt the request of the Hospitalization Regional Agency (ARH) – in the context of the 2007–2011 plan aimed at improving the quality of life for patients affected by chronic diseases – the purpose of this work was to draw up a clear assessment of the 2008 Therapeutic Education programmes in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) region. The study was carried out before the publication of the therapeutic education statutory orders and ARS (regional health agency) authorizations. MethodsCross-sectional study, carried out in the three sectors of medical management in the region – namely health-care institutions, ambulatory structures and health networks – made it possible to identify, first, which structures had actually launched therapeutic education programmes and then, how the procedures had been designed and set up. ResultsAmong all the medical structures investigated, the study has listed 491 programmes, heterogeneously located throughout the PACA region. These programmes primarily target diabetes, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Their main objectives are the patients’ quality of life, adherence to treatment and protective health behaviour (health improvement). The hospitalization sector programmes preferentially target the 30 to 60years old, whereas the ambulatory and health networks programmes are more inclined to target the over 60years old part of the population. More than 50% of the professionals involved in the programmes have never benefited from a specific training concerning the patients’ therapeutic education. ConclusionThis study has pointed out a great number of important aspects which need drastic improvement in terms of therapeutic education organization – the involvement and training of health professionals, for instance.

Environmental crisis management training has been mainly focused on the individual task and responsibilities of the team members, rather than on the team aspects. This paper will discuss the possibilities of using computer support and collaborative training to improve the staff training in crisis situations. The paper is based on the description and the results of GAMMA-EC Project (GAMMA-EC was developed within the Fourth Framework Programme's sector Educational Multimedia of the Telematics Applications Programme. The project started in July 1998 and was finished in December 2000. www.tno.nl/instit/fel/gamma_ec.) that was developed with the aim of improving the training of the environmental emergency staff in decision-making and in communication.