The origins of the LE SANS FOURCHETTE® concept
Mémoire & Santé is a non-profit association recognised as being of public interest. It supports people living with memory disorders and their loved ones, developing projects that bring together care, culture, gastronomy, social connection and transmission.
In 2011, the association came up with LE SANS FOURCHETTE® from an idea that seemed unusual at the time: what if we took away the cutlery to make meals more inclusive?
Launched in Marseille, the concept then spread throughout France, illustrating the association’s founding belief: it is not only possible but essential to preserve dignity and quality of life, even as age advances and illness progresses.
“In the early 2010s, I was supporting a patient who loved going to restaurants with her husband. As her Alzheimer’s disease progressed, she found it harder and harder to use cutlery. That is when I had the idea, with restaurateur Richard Lepage, of a meal without knife or fork. The first one brought together around forty people, including this patient and her husband. It was a success; everyone was deeply moved. Not undermining the dignity of people who are ill is one of the foundations of medical ethics. Every life has value.”
Our missions
Mémoire & Santé agit sur la mémoire et ses liens avec la santé, en plaçant la qualité de vie et le bien-être au centre.
Face à l’isolement que provoquent les troubles neuro-évolutifs, l’association apporte des réponses concrètes aux personnes malades comme à leurs aidants. Des professionnels de santé et des bénévoles y portent quatre missions.
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Innovate
With practical, replicable schemes that improve the daily lives of vulnerable people and their loved ones.
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Raise awareness
Among young people, carers and professionals about illness and invisible disability, and their effects.
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Support
Training in the fields of memory, learning, caregiving and the care relationship.
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Create
Moments of intergenerational conviviality.
The LE SANS FOURCHETTE team
A multidisciplinary project bringing together skills in health, neuroscience, catering, education, organisation and communication.
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Fabienne Verdureau
Founder, LE SANS FOURCHETTE®
A neuropsychologist, speech therapist and trainer in geriatrics & gerontology, she founded the Mémoire & Santé association and initiated the LE SANS FOURCHETTE® concept.
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Richard Lepage
Co-founder, LE SANS FOURCHETTE®
A maître d’hôtel and restaurateur, trainer at the Jean-Paul Passedat catering school in Marseille and involved in several community projects, he is the link with the restaurant world.
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Stéphane Pernin
Executive Chef, LE SANS FOURCHETTE®
A hospitality and catering teacher at the Lycée de la Méditerranée in La Ciotat and a head chef, he is a catering and training consultant for the Mémoire & Santé association. The specifications for the gourmet bites? That’s him!
Around this core, the association can count on a board and on professionals in photography and video, graphic design and communication.
Our scientific committee
To ensure its work is sound and to inform its innovations, Mémoire & Santé relies on a multidisciplinary scientific committee.
It brings together professionals from fields including neurology, geriatrics, neuropsychology, nutrition, public health and the humanities and social sciences. Its members follow the project’s development, provide a critical perspective and support the association in its ethical and methodological thinking.
Contact us
Would you like to know more about the Mémoire & Santé association, LE SANS FOURCHETTE® or our other activities?
- Address
- Association Mémoire & Santé
58 boulevard Notre-Dame
13006 Marseille
