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A survey about opinions on end-of-life issues of a population represented by 1,171 people in the waiting room of general practitioners' surgeries was conducted in a province of northern Italy. Most subjects did not consider suicide as a reasonable option even in cases of a serious and incurable disease. Moreover, subjects did not consider euthanasia as a possible option either; however, they did express an opposite attitude when considering euthanasia in a third-person perspective. People with a personal history of suicidal behavior appear to present as a different population, overall expressing more open attitudes.

A survey about history of non-fatal suicidal behaviour was performed on 1,171 subjects in the waiting room of general practitioners’ practices in the territory of Rovigo (Northern Italy). The mean age of interviewed subjects was 52.9 ± 17.0, with a majority of female individuals. Two and two percent admitted previous experience of non-suicidal self-injury, 4.7 % admitted having had serious suicidal thoughts/plans, and 1.8 % reported at least one suicide attempt. Compared to the rest of the sample, people with history of suicidal behaviours resulted to be of younger age (p < .05), whilst their level of well-being was poorer (p < .001). When compared to the results of the Italian arm of the European Study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders, carried out on general population samples, the present study produces higher rates of suicidality, despite the much higher mean age of the interviewed subjects compared to the general population.

In the prevention of suicide, there is a need to transform clinical studies into health promotion by a cooperation with territorial agencies. A survey on a group of stakeholders was performed with the methodology of focus group. The evaluation criteria used by the participants were practical and not methodological and were closely linked to the stakeholders' point of view. High importance was given to building a network in the territory and some indications came out for each target group (e.g., interventions in schools for adolescents). In conclusion, a qualitative survey on the stakeholders' opinion is useful, but it needs a steering that integrates the different points of view and joins them with methodological requirements and funds availability. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This study analyzes the “sick-lit” narrative phenomenon, a story writing genre rooted in self-harm and suicide, which seems to be gaining remarkable popularity amongst adolescents. This success is a symptom of young people’s need to address the issue of death. The qualitative research was composed of two parts: the first explored the ambivalent representation of sick-lit on the internet, where two opposing factions argue about its educative usefulness vs. its potentially dangerous copycat effect. The second part investigated six novels and their representations of self-harm, death, sufferance and suicide. The analysis confuted the idea that sick-lit may be a positive instrument for making adolescents aware of mortality and showed the need to transform the Werther risk effect into the Papageno possibility by exploring the content of these books with adolescents in death education courses.

We can define organizational wellbeing as the organization's ability to promote and maintain the physical, psychological and social workers wellbeing at all levels and for every job. A poor organizational climate may cause cases of burn-out and makes more likely behaviours that constitute psychological violence and harassment. In the local Unit number 18 of the Veneto Region the joint committees to tackle bullying, which have mainly preventive and educational purposes, have been a good opportunity to take into full consideration these issues at the company level (see National Work Contract 16/02/1999, article 6, D). The company occupational physician was involved in these activities to discuss the results of an ad hoc investigation conducted in the framework of the annual program of health examinations. The aim of the investigation was to ascertain the perceived work related stress and its association with work accidents, absenteeism and turnover due to health problems. On the basis of the results of this investigation it was proposed to assess better the organizational climate and to consider possible improvements. As survey tools two questionnaires were used: The questionnaire Organisational wellbeing, by Avallone et al. The Social Reaction Inventory. Rotter 1966 (abridged). Our presentation describes the subsequent stages of our intervention also with the methodological weaknesses and the more relevant implications with regards to operational and strategic paths for prevention and health promotion.