Avtivities

There are currently about 350 patients in the center's care. Intake consists of. 

• formulating or confirming the diagnosis by clinical and instrumental evaluation (level II blood tests, genetic analysis, electromyography, brain and cervical MRI with fiber-tracking study, brain PET scan, neuropsychological tests);

• perform rare disease certification (Piedmont Region Rare Disease Network), if not already performed by another health care facility, and related treatment plans; 

• inform the person, family and General Practitioner (GP) about the diagnosis and course of the disease;

• perform regular multidisciplinary evaluations (neurological, pulmonary, phoniatric, physiatric, speech) of the person with ALS;

• maintain continuity of care in close collaboration with territorial and/or hospital services;

• perform clinical follow-up in collaboration with the ASL of residence or home;

• provide free transportation of the person from home to the hospital, in order to facilitate accessibility to hospital services 

• provide psychological support: individual support interviews, small group discussions, training and supervision of groups of volunteers who can give support to ALS patients, caregivers and their families

A number of collaborations have been established with a "hub and spoke" model with 

• hospital of Asti

• Alessandria hospital (detachment of neurologists and psychologists from CRESLA who carry out 1 specialist outpatient clinic for ALS once a month)

• Saluzzo hospital: direct collaboration with the invasive and noninvasive ventilation service of Dr. Launaro.

Since 2009, there has been direct collaboration with the following palliative care services: Faro Foundation, Ivrea district palliative care, Asti district palliative care, Cuneo district palliative care, Casale Monferrato district palliative care, Luce per la Vita Foundation, Alessandria district palliative care.

Patient and caregiver activities Patient and family education are primarily carried out by individual specialists, through direct communication with all concerned and devoting specific space to answering questions and concerns that may arise in the course of the disease. 

Illustrative booklets are distributed to patients and caregivers, provided by the ALS Patient Associations, and compiled by the expert center in collaboration with Coordination Center of the Piedmont and Aosta Valley Interregional Network for Rare Diseases. 

Cycles of meetings aimed at ALS patients and their relatives during which the various specialists involved offer a description of the disease and specific interventions and answer questions from participants. interventions by: neurologist, geneticist, psychologist, speech therapist, dietician, pulmonologist, physiatrist, nurse, communication aids technician and social worker. These activities are carried out in cooperation with patient associations.