They are mainly men (83.6%), residing in the north and centre, with an average age of 35 years. It is the photograph of the user who called the AIDS and STI helpline of the Higher Institute of Health in 2021, for a total of 6,219 calls. The questions addressed to the experts mainly concern doubts about heterosexual relationships with occasional partners, the methods of transmission of HIV and STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) (32.4%), the testing procedures for these infections (28.0%). A third of the questions asked by women concern tests (how long after to carry them out, how and where to carry them out), the questions asked by men focus, in more than a third of cases, on the ways of HIV transmission. In approximately 10% of phone calls, evident misinformation still emerges regarding the risk modalities of HIV.
In a proportion equal to 36.2% of all phone calls received in 2021, it emerges that users belonging to the AIDS and STI helpline have never taken an HIV test. 'These 2021 data are in line with those that can be deduced from the over 820 thousand calls received to the AIDS and IST toll-free telephone starting from June 1987 - the ISS says in a statement - and suggest that this service is still necessary today to respond to the information needs of those who are there
access, as it provides, in a personalized way, answers supported by solid scientific bases'. Furthermore, the availability of a database of 650 diagnostic-clinical centers and 28 checkpoints present throughout the national territory allows the experts of the AIDS and STI toll-free telephone to provide the person who calls with useful information regarding where to carry out the HIV testing and how.
The HIV/AIDS/STI counseling service telephone, anonymous and free, active since 1987, it is located within the Psycho-socio-behavioural Research, Communication and Training Operational Unit of the Infectious Diseases Department of the ISS. 'The experience acquired over many years of activity and the operational procedures developed to provide scientific answers to the complex questions posed by people-users - continues the ISS press release - have meant that in the face of the emergency caused by SARS- CoV-2, the AIDS and STI helpline team would welcome the information needs of users also regarding the COVID-19 health emergency, providing information on national and regional services, sending to the public utility number 1500 of the Ministry of Health , to the toll-free numbers activated in the Regions and Autonomous Provinces, to the official websites of the Health departments and institutions (Civil Protection, Italian Red Cross, etc.), responsible for providing information to the population present in the different territories.
Furthermore, a real primary prevention intervention was provided through the AIDS and STI helpline
in systematically indicating to users the need to maintain all measures aimed at avoiding the risk of contagion
from SARS-CoV-2, particularly in social and sexual relationships with unknown partners'. In this context, it was
carried out, in the period March - September 2021, the telephone survey regarding the acceptability of the anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in users belonging to the AIDS and STI toll-free telephone, the purpose of which was to detect the characteristics
socio-demographics, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
people-users relating to TV AIDS and STIs. 528 users, mostly male, participated in the telephone survey.
young adults, employed professionals, with a high level of education and who in 44.3% cases had already undergone
satisfaction with the anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.
With regard to the area of consultancy on legal matters, the Higher Institute of Health informs that two days a week, on Mondays and Thursdays from 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm, a legal expert is available to users who access the telephone green AIDS and STI, with regards to aspects relating to discrimination or problems in the workplace and welfare fields. 'The progressive chronicization of HIV infection, a consequence of important medical advances - explains the Institute - has determined in the last twenty years a significant prolongation of the average survival of people with HIV, making the lives of those living with this infection much more common than in the past'.
However, a fact that emerges from the observation of today's reality should be underlined: 'The undoubted progress made in these
The last twenty years of medicine - continues the ISS - have not proceeded hand in hand with an evolution of perception
of the disease and with the long hoped for overcoming of the stigma related to it'. Therefore the current situation conveys the image of an increasingly numerous population of HIV+ people who are struggling to face the reality of a family, emotional and professional life in which the weight of prejudice and irrational fear towards
disease are often not only unchanged compared to twenty years ago, but in some cases even worsened by the consequences of
discontinuous and sometimes not very effective information and preventive interventions, as well as by the reduction in the level of services
social welfare and the standard of living in general.
The current SARS Cov-2 epidemic, adds the ISS, has made this reality 'more difficult and uncomfortable for people with HIV infection, now chronic, who have witnessed a significant worsening in the level of care healthcare especially during the periods of greatest spread of Covid-19, when the infectious disease departments were literally overwhelmed by the emergency, with the consequence of becoming, in some cases, completely inaccessible to anyone not affected by the new infection'.
In order to implement institutional communication and information activities on infectious diseases, since 2013, the Telephone
green AIDS and STIs is complemented by the interactive website 'United against AIDS' which, in addition to 'providing updated content relating to the methods of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS and STIs - explains the ISS - plays a continuous role in disseminating scientific innovations and events that promote the prevention of STIs , allowing, also thanks to the connected social channels (Twitter, YouTube), a fruitful activity of spreading the culture of testing, fighting stigma and raising awareness of one's own behaviour.
Furthermore, thanks to the potential of the AIDS and IST toll-free telephone and the 'United against AIDS' website it was possible to carry out
specific investigations on awareness and behaviors related to the prevention of infectious diseases. 'During
In recent years, behavioral studies have been conducted on specific subgroups of people such as young people,
clients of sex workers, women and, more recently, the survey on the acceptability of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, carried out
as part of the AIDS and IST Toll-free Helpline, it was also implemented through the 'United against AIDS' website and is still
active'.
Furthermore, on the 'United against AIDS' website, a survey is being carried out aimed at evaluating, in people infected with HIV, the impact of the new therapeutic modalities available on the individual quality of life, on the opportunities for at work and on relationships and social stigma. It is possible to participate in the survey by answering the questions in the anonymous questionnaire published on the Uniti contro l'AIDS website.
Photo by Klaus Nielsen from Pexels.
In the recent Caritas 2021 report, the new poverty in the city of Rome emerges. In 48.7% of cases, the new people (7,476) who turned to parish centers are Italian, followed by Filipinos (16.3%), Peruvians (4.9%), Romanians (4.7%) and 97 other nationalities. In 64.4% of cases, the representative of the family who crossed the threshold of the counseling center for the first time is a woman. 54% of new members are under 45 years old. Dramatic and eloquent figures.
Whoever will be the new mayor of Rome will immediately have to face, among the first emergencies, that of new poverty. Pope Francis reminds us that "no one is saved alone": a perfect expression as a very secular warning for restart of the city, to leave behind the disaster in which we are struggling.
On Tuesday 12 October the Di Liegro Foundation organized a mass celebrated by archbishop Gianpiero Palmieri, vicegerent of the Diocese of Rome, for remember Monsignor Luigi Di Liegro 24 years after his death, Don Gigi for everyone, who founded the Diocesan Caritas of Rome in 1979.
Monsignor Palmieri said: «Don Luigi Di Liegro had a profoundly biblical vision of the city: a place where men live together, a collective body in which we are all called to participate. A living body that asks to be honored
by each of its members."
Also a very secular reminder. Rome can and must start again but it cannot and must not leave anyone behind.
From the Corriere della Sera of 18 October 2021
Recipients: volunteers, family members of people with mental distress, workers in the healthcare sector and help desks, university students.
The training course, organized by the Di Liegro Foundation, "Volunteers and families networking for mental health" is now in its 15th edition. This year we want to induce a reflection on the theme of the Community and how the spread of Covid-19 has highlighted various psycho-socio-economic problems that require urgent responses.
“A healthy social life can only be found when everyone's virtues live in the entire community.”
Rudolf Steiner
The shortcomings of the healthcare system, the weight of economic and social inequalities, pollution, the progressive reduction of biodiversity and the resurgence of psychological problems that have affected all ages. Volunteering can help remedy the critical issues that have emerged thanks to the importance it is recognized in welfare systems.
A private resource that has joined the traditional tools of public welfare by participating in the provision of social and educational services and in the planning and planning of social and health policies at different levels.
Youth volunteering, in particular, presents aspects of interest for the social sciences: it is a form of active citizenship, it contributes to social well-being, it promotes the maturation of young people, the acquisition of skills and their employability in the job market.
>>> SIGN UP FOR THE "VOLUNTEERS AND FAMILIES ONLINE" TRAINING COURSE
Registrants will then be contacted by our secretariat to confirm participation and pay the participation fee.
The training course will take place in person, at the headquarters of the Di Liegro Foundation, located in via Ostiense 106 (Rome) and online on Zoom.
The contribution is 40 euros, 25 for students, in the form of a donation to the Di Liegro Foundation, deductible from your tax return.
October 9, 2021
Educational agencies of the third millennium, school and family between crisis and opportunity
Tiziana Sallusti, Headmaster of Liceo Mamiani in Rome
Annalisa Giannotti, Clinical Educator
October 23
From the polis to the virtual community: the centrality of human relationships
Jose Mannu, Psychiatrist
November 6, 2021
History and perspectives of mental health services
Giuseppe Nicolò, Psychiatrist Director of the Mental Health Department of ASL Rome 5
November 20, 2021
From the old to the new world, the paradigm shift in psychiatry
Jose Mannu, Psychiatrist
December 4, 2021
Volunteer today, with an eye to the future
Valerio Pieri, Professor at the Department of Business Economics at Roma TRE University
December 11, 2021
Mental health and territory, a new idea of community
Gemma Brandi, Psychiatrist, Director of SOC Health in prison, AUSL Tuscany Centre
January 15, 2022
Addictions, the educating community as a response to complexity
Alessandro Vento, Psychiatrist, Head of the "Addiction Observatory", ASL Roma2
>>> SIGN UP FOR THE TRAINING COURSE
"From March to December 2020, the number of children in juvenile justice for violence against family members increased by 41%. The average age of those who have committed this type of crime, and therefore been placed in the community, is less than 15 years. These are therefore children who struggle to recognize the negative value of the actions they have performed within the family context which is more often than not conflictual, often highly ambivalent".
The profile of minors who use violence against their family members is traced Maria Carla Gatto, president of the Juvenile Court of Milan, spoke at the digital meeting 'The mental health of adolescents: intercepting, preventing and caring in the Covid-19 emergency', promoted last June 11th by the Francesca Rava Foundation, with the patronage of Fofi (Federation of Italian pharmacist orders) and Federfarma.
"We are therefore faced with a new phenomenon - states Gatto to the Dire Agency - which deserves to be explored in greater depth because violent acts are a consequence of the entire adult system, understood as a family system and in general as a social system. While once upon a time aggregation also had a territorial connotation, for example children gathered in neighborhoods and in this way the institutions had the possibility of controlling the phenomena - recalls the juvenile justice expert - today digital and social communication allows young people to join together to commit crimes even without ever having seen each other and without belonging to the same territory. In the absence of a different thought, the only reason for aggregation is to act together with violence. The world of institutions and society must organize themselves and learn to move with the same speed as children to stem and prevent the phenomenon, because - warns Gatto - we are faced with the explosion of a phenomenon which, beyond the contingent situation, finds its roots in the lack of an educational and healthcare plan for mental health aimed at identifying early signs of psychological and behavioral disorders in children".
Gatto is clear: "We must move promptly to identify the early signs of this child distress. The whole community, including the pharmacies which are an important presence in the local network, must not be afraid to see and must know what to do after having seen. This is why we need to do training and research, to understand the phenomenon even in its hidden manifestations."
Violence involving minors has many faces, as he recalls Lisa Di Berardino, deputy commissioner of the postal police and
of communications in Milan, which lists some data relating to crimes committed in the virtual world. "Statistically, from the
From 2019 to 2020, there was a 77% increase in treated cases of victimization of minors, therefore child pornography, cyberbullying, sexting, solicitation. This - clarifies the deputy commissioner - means that we have gone from 2,379 to 4,200 cases. Just as there was a significant increase, equal to 132% of cases treated, of photographic and video child pornography material produced and posted online by the minors themselves. A trend also confirmed in the first 4 months of 2021, with a 96% increase in complaints".
Another relevant element is the lowering of the age of the minors involved: "In 2020-2021 we have already recorded cases
in the age group 0-9 years, a group totally absent from our surveys in 2019". Also in this case, recalls Di
Berardino, it is the world of adults that must provide children with the tools, practical but also ethical and moral, to face the
both real and virtual life, "to distinguish good from evil, to be able to recognize when one has made a mistake. Parents and agencies
educational institutions must monitor and at the same time keep up with young people in terms of digitalisation who - concludes the deputy commissioner with a positive thought - have the ability to understand, they know what is needed. We must reach out to them and never give up."
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels
This morning we received a visit from Benoni Ambarus, vicar of the Holy Father for the Diocese of Rome, delegate for Charity, for the pastoral care of migrants (in particular Roma and Sinti) and in charge of the diocesan missionary office.
In his greeting, the Bishop Benoni Ambarus thanked the Di Liegro Foundation "for what you do every day. Constructions find their strength and stability in the foundations that are hidden. This is why I tell you to continue with this attitude of awareness of your objectives knowing that yours is an essential job and unfortunately little recognized in its importance".
"On mental distress - added Don Ben, as he likes to be called, addressing the Foundation's staff and its volunteers - you are in the most current emergency, where Unfortunately, services that are closing and leaving people alone are multiplying in dealing with their discomfort.
As the general secretary explained Luigina Di Liegro, "The role of the Foundation in terms of Mental Health is above all to support people and act in terms of prevention, to ensure that those who experience a condition of fragility have as much as possible local support and not just emergency services".
"Mental distress is one of the most hidden fragilities of our society on which the Foundation could make its contribution - highlighted the president Sandro Barlone - A hardship that intercepts many other fragilities, one above all that experienced by families who need to bring out their experiences and share them".
"For us, it is important to be able to form a community in order to act together not on individual interventions but to contribute to an overall project - said one of the volunteers, Giorgio - Regarding mental distress, we are aware that intervening in a preventive way can be of great importance to improve the lives of the This is why we are committed and motivated in giving our contribution to the many activities that the Foundation carries out, come on art therapy and socialization workshops at the training of family members and volunteers.
The meeting gave the opportunity to remember Don Luigi Di Liegro, present the Foundation's activities and commitment, and also illustrate tools and resources available to the community, such as the Don Luigi archive.
On the occasion of World Refugee Day, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the National Institute for the promotion of the health of migrant populations and the fight against diseases of poverty (INMP) signed a memorandum of understanding For strengthen the health protection of minors, women and families with a migratory background.
The agreement between Unicef and INMP aims to:
Refugee and migrant children and adolescents and their families are often at increased health risks and face a variety of barriers to accessing quality healthcare. Many also experience severe emotional difficulties due to the trauma of travel and, many times, abuse and exploitation, including sexual and gender-based violence. The global COVID-19 pandemic has also further exacerbated these challenges.
It is necessary "ensure that their right to health is guaranteed - said Anna Riatti, UNICEF coordinator - also giving them access to quality information and services to face their journey in the safest way possible. The question becomes even more relevant if we consider the effects that the pandemic has on mental health and on the risk of gender violence".
The agreement therefore has as its objective "fair access to health by people highly at risk of social exclusion, with possible serious consequences on their health but also with a negative impact on the entire society - as explained by the INMP general director, Concetta Mirisola - When it comes to young people, in particular, the consequences are perpetuated over time, with incalculable economic but also, and above all, social costs., and this is not acceptable."
Di Liegro Foundation: we support and give dignity to people exposed to loneliness and abandonment.
Photo by Ahmed akacha from Pexels
"Every year there are approximately 650,000 emergency room visits for psychiatric reasons. It is clear that it would be impossible to imagine an equivalent number of people to be subjected to strict supervision for possible violent behaviour, but we certainly have to ask ourselves about the connections that may exist between this first health intervention unit and the paths activated subsequently". As reported by the Dire Agency, he is the one who supports him Fabrizio Starace, president of the Italian Society of Psychiatric Epidemiology (Siep), who spoke on Radio24 in recent days to reflect on the condition of mental health in Italy. A reflection that is inspired by the triple murder that occurred in Ardea last Sunday, in which two children and an elderly man were victims of gunshots fired by a 34-year-old with mental problems.
"The territorial inequalities in our country are very marked and even intolerable - added Starace - especially when we consider that psychiatric assistance is not like a surgical operation which a person can benefit from by moving from one region to another and going to a center of excellence. It is assistance that is based in the reference community, aimed at reintegration and re-inclusion".
The problem is "a misunderstood perception of psychiatry which - President Siep further explained - continues to be considered in terms of performance, i.e. of outpatient visits, elicitation of symptoms and possible administration of a psychotropic drug. But this is not the community mental health foreseen by the law, the only useful tool to accompany and support people in difficulty but also to prevent extreme conditions and behavioral exacerbations". Suffice it to say that "even after compulsory health treatment (TSO) there is no continuity of care - added Starace - only the 30% of people who receive a TSO is seen in the 14 days following discharge from hospital. Probably due to problems of equipment and organization in the various territories".
A black and white photograph of Italian mental health taken by Starace. But that could be colored with the help of the Recovery Fund. "If we jumped forward 6-7 years and we were already in the conditions foreseen by the National recovery and resilience plan, with community homes and centers where groups of general practitioners alternate with groups of continuity of care doctors, having the possibility of intercepting the uncomfortable conditions themselves and giving continuity to the treatment - he stated - then evidently the facts of Ardea would have taken on other characteristics".
What tools do you need to put in place? "Those envisaged by the law, even before the Pnrr - added Starace - those which provide for Mental Health Centers spread throughout the territory, open 24 hours a day so as to be able to intercept these forms of distress at any time, with multidisciplinary teams projected towards the community, towards helping families. There is a systemic action to be implemented: we need to be present, proactive, leave clinics and hospitals, go to families' homes, encounter suffering and difficulties, thus avoiding extreme forms from manifesting".
In mental health"we don't need sophisticated technologies but we need human technology, competent and motivated people to carry out this work. One recovers from mental disorder - concludes President Siep - provided that action is taken early and appropriately, according to the treatment paths defined by the Ministry and with continuity over time".
The news on the Dire Agency website
Photo by Raphael Brasileiro from Pexels
IncluPsy is a project funded with support from the European Commission which aims to promote the social inclusion of people living with mental disorders. There are 6 partners (coming from five different European countries) called to discuss and exchange their experiences in order to strengthen their capabilities and define good practices on the topic.
With Inclupsy we also want to increase the awareness and the involvement on the topic of a larger number of actors on the topic of social inclusion. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, one in four Europeans suffers from mental illnesses.
The report "Health at a Glance: Europe", created by the European Commission and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, highlights how mental distress is one of the most urgent issues to be addressed and warns of economic and social consequences of the problem.
People with severe and persistent mental disorders generally suffer from a great sense of isolation, the loss of the ability to undertake initiatives and live in independent housing, hold a job and carry out normal daily activities.
These effects, combined with the stigmatization and, in certain cases, prolonged and repeated psychiatric hospitalizations themselves become a factor of social disintegration, leading people to lose their homes, wander the streets and be excluded.
In light of the links (as cause or consequence) between mental disorders and social exclusion, it is not surprising that inclusion is one of Europe's priorities. But What practices are implemented by Europe to promote the social inclusion of people living with mental disorders? This question is the underlying theme of the IncluPsy project.
Go to site by IncluPsy.
A three-day webinar on the topic “Young people and mental health: a common good”. It is the training event organized by the Di Liegro Foundation, together with Anci Lazio And Observatory for Addiction and sub-threshold mental disorders, and with the contribution of the Lazio Regional Council, to help train administrators, managers and officials of Local Authorities on topics such as social withdrawal, substance addictions, the use and abuse of new technologies. The objective is to impact policies and the organization of prevention and promotion activities for the psychosocial well-being of younger citizens and their families.
The webinar “Young people and mental health: a common good” in fact, it intends to underline the importance of the psychological well-being of citizens, in particular that of young people, especially in this moment linked to the difficulties caused by the pandemic. The Covid-19 emergency has affected not only physical but also mental health, delving into fragilities and difficulties and making many realities even more difficult which, too often, go unnoticed". For this reason it is necessary to think of policies capable of combining the contribution of institutional actors, social services and educational agencies, with that of specific mental health services in a dynamic of complementary value, as underlined when presenting the event Lina Novelli, delegate for Welfare and Social Policies of Anci Lazio.
The Di Liegro Foundation has been working since 2006 with public and private institutions to promote psychosocial well-being, the prevention of mental distress and the dissemination of culture and knowledge of mental health. Over time, the secretary general explained, Luigina Di Liegro, this commitment focused in particular on youth hardship.
Over time, this commitment has focused in particular on youth hardship. Daily experience tells us that substance addictions and pathological behavioral addictions in young people represent a social emergency. Together with the Observatory Association for Addiction and Sub-Threshold Mental Disorders, chaired by the psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Alessandro Vento, the foundation collaborate on a project which, through systematic scanning of the web by software, identifies the presence of New Psychoactive Substances offered for sale on the internet.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND MENTAL HEALTH: A GOOD IN COMMON - THE PROGRAM
Tuesday 13 April 2021 3.00pm - 4.30pm
“The promotion of mental health in adolescence. R-exist the pandemic”
Alessandro Vento, Psychiatrist, Head of the Addictions and Subthreshold Mental Disorders Observatory.
Tuesday 20 April 2021 3.00pm – 4.30pm
“Social withdrawal and school dropout in adolescence”
Ignazio Ardizzone, Child neuropsychiatrist, Head of the Child Neuropsychiatry Psychiatric Clinic at the “Umberto I” Polyclinic in Rome.
Tuesday 27 April 2021 3.00pm – 4.30pm
“The addiction between old and new substances”
Alessandro Vento, Psychiatrist, Head of the Addictions and Subthreshold Mental Disorders Observatory.
According to Istat's 2020 report on fair and sustainable well-being, mental well-being worsens among the elderly and among residents in Lombardy, Piedmont and Campania. The BES provides an annual analysis of the progress and critical issues of the dimensions of well-being in Italy. In the year of the pandemic, the analysis of the mental health index takes on particular importance.
The Institute of Statistics reports that the general change for the total population compared to 2019 is not significant, perhaps because in the early stages of the epidemic the evaluation of one's health conditions was influenced by the relativization of one's own psycho-physical state in comparison to that of other people in worse situations and by the important role played by the family context which made it possible to maintain an atmosphere of serenity in most families.
However, different trends emerge in subgroups of the population. The situation of people aged 75 and over worsens both among men and women; among men of this age it drops by 1 point (which becomes -2 points for residents in the North), among women the drop is also observed among those aged 65-74 (-1.7).
The conditions of greater isolation experienced during 2020 especially affected the mental health of single people in the 55-64 age group, even here especially in the North. Even among young women aged 20-24, however, the score dropped by more than 2 points compared to the previous year.
The mental health index worsens in Lombardy, Piedmont and Campania which present the lowest values together with Molise. Gender gaps are widening, with more unfavorable conditions for women (66 versus 71.1). Mental well-being conditions deteriorate with increasing age, with a difference of approximately 10 points between the scores of the youngest and oldest.
The positive evolution of life expectancy stops. The health chapter notes in particular that the positive evolution of life expectancy at birth between 2010 and 2019, despite evident geographical and gender inequalities, was severely slowed down by Covid-19 which canceled out, completely in the North and partially in other areas of the country, the expected gains in years of life accrued over the decade.
The Mental Health Index is a measure of psychological distress (psychological distress) obtained from the summary of the scores obtained by each interviewee over the age of 14 on the questions referring to the four main dimensions of mental health (anxiety, depression, loss of behavioral or emotional control and psychological well-being). The index varies between 0 and 100, with better psychological well-being conditions as the value of the index increases.
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