The accompagnant model was set up at the Fann psychiatric hospital in Dakar in 1971 by prof. H. Collomb. It requires the patient to be hospitalized with a non-patient to accompany him/her at all time during the hospitalization. This model compensates for economic and human deficiencies, and also presents itself as a therapeutic tool in the treatment of mental illnesses.

The contemporary use of the accompagnant model will be presented and its advantages and disadvantages assessed.

We investigate how the accompagnant model may have a role in the therapeutic process, and to what extent this model (or part of it) could be exported.

A qualitative study of the practice at Fann Psychiatric Hospital has been carried out, based on interviews with patients, professionals and accompanying persons.

There is a striking consensus between patients, professionals and the accompanying persons about the advantages of this practice. It facilitates the encounter between professionals and patients, and reduces the risk of living hospitalization as a traumatic experience. The accompanying persons contribute to warrant the respect of human dignity, and to maintain a therapeutic dynamic through their participation in the development of a caring environment and their expectation of a recovery process. They help ensure continuity of care and medication after the hospital stay.

The accompagnant model emphasizes the role relatives may play during and after the hospitalization, in ways that could be compared with what is currently expected from family therapeutic education.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.