So-Psy is a device deployed by the adult psychiatry team at the Dijon-Bourgogne University Hospital to facilitate access to somatic care for patients, which helps improve their quality and life expectancy.
People monitored for severe mental disorders have a greatly reduced life expectancy and a fourfold increase in premature mortality (1). The consequences of psychiatric illnesses, notably withdrawal, negative symptoms and anticipatory anxiety, often hinder their access to somatic care and screening. Faced with this observation, the adult psychiatry team at the Dijon-Bourgogne University Hospital created, in 2024, So-Psy (Somatics in psychiatry). Made up of a nurse and a part-time secretary, this system aims to facilitate access to somatic care for patients treated in adult psychiatry.
The referral is carried out by the referring psychiatrists, aware of the somatic fragility of their patients. After an exchange with the psychiatrist, the nurse receives the patient for an initial interview to assess his autonomy, his needs, his understanding of somatic issues and his anxiety regarding them. This step makes it possible to organize personalized and reassuring support: making appointments, coordination with specialists, explanation of patient care, presence of the nurse during examinations (imaging, PET scan, surgery), logistical assistance (organization of transport, compliance with the framework of the examination with the taking of specific medication or remaining “fasting”). The nurse can also support caregivers involved with their sick loved one.
Previously, the somatic monitoring of patients was not optimal: deadlines not respected, appointments not honoured, even examinations canceled by the patient themselves in the face of excessive stress. So-Psy’s secure environment now encourages the respect of appointments and the smooth running of examinations. The nurse also monitors preventive assessments (gynecology, dental, general medicine, ophthalmology, vaccinations). Unlike an advanced practice nurse (APN), the system nurse does not carry out psychiatric monitoring or prescription renewals. He coordinates and organizes somatic care and acts as an interface between the psychiatric sector and treating doctors and somatic specialists (radiologists, oncologists, cardiologists, internists, neurologists), within the university hospital, in clinics and in community medicine. Beyond the coordination aspect, So-Psy strengthens patients’ autonomy and confidence.
Since its creation in 2024, more than 100 patients have benefited from the system. In 2025, 92 patients were supported for a total of 769 procedures carried out. The main treatments concern oncology (12), cardiology (10) and rheumatology (10), pulmonology (8 patients), endocrinology (7 patients), addiction (7)… The oncological and cardiovascular sectors have been the most requested since the creation of the service. So-Psy has thus made it possible to improve the quality and life expectancy of many patients.
IORFIDA Pino (Nurse), CHABRIDON Guillaume (Psychiatrist), ROYER Julien (Health Executive) University of Burgundy Europe, Dijon Bourgogne University Hospital, (Psychiatry Department of Dijon University Hospital of Dr. PONAVOY CMP Beauregard, Head of the Neuroscience, Reconstructive Surgery and Psychiatry Unit, Prof. CHAUVET GELINIER) 21000 Dijon, France
