[Need-oriented support offers of self-help groups for handicapped or chronically-ill people].

During the last decades, self-help groups and self-help organizations have become an important part of the health system. Their success is explained mainly by the fact that their support offers are fully oriented to the needs of people with handicaps or chronic diseases. The present paper describes the support requirements of people with handicaps or chronic diseases, the type of need-oriented offers they request, and the types of self-help groups available for the corresponding support, including the identification of factors contributing to their performance and the difficulties inherent to their organization.