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Today, nurses play a fundamental role in Public Health. In the last few decades the health profession has seen strong professional growth, in the areas of Clinical practice, Management and Education. In particular, this growth has been also informed by the progress being made in nursing research. In fact, nursing research has contributed to the establishment of support tools to facilitate and evaluate the daily work done by nurses, contributing significantly to the improvement of their professional performance.

This study had two aims: (1) to explore the types and incidence of obstetric violence (OV) in a group of Italian women, as well as associated socio-demographic factors; and (2) to assess whether OV affects women’s mental health (e.g. psychological distress and post-traumatic stress). A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted with 282 Italian women. Women answered questions on socio-demographic factors, childbirth characteristics, OV and mental health. Multiple linear regression analyses assessing the predictive role of socio-demographic and childbirth characteristics on OV were conducted. Additionally, hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses assessing whether OV affected women’s mental health were also carried out. More than three quarters of the sample (78.4%) had experienced at least one type of OV (55.5% of non-consented care and 66.4% of abuse and violence). The factors most associated with OV were younger age, low educational level, not having attended a prenatal childbirth preparedness course, and having given birth naturally. The form of OV that most affected women’s mental health was that linked to abuse and violence rather than non-consented care. Study findings shed light into addressing OV from a multidimensional perspective.

Background and Objectives: Game addiction is an emerging problem in public health. A gaming disorder is characterized by a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior. The behavioral pattern is severe enough to implicate a significant involvement of family, social, educational, professional, or other relationships. Therefore, greater attention needs to be paid to potential addictive behaviors in terms of video games in order to identify both pre-adolescents and adolescents at risk and to provide them with adequate assistance. Materials and Methods: A random sample of 622 students including pre-adolescents and adolescents were enrolled from September 1st to October 31th 2016, and the Game Addiction Scale (GAS) interview was used to identify pathological students with both Monothetic and Polythetic analysis. Results: This study shows the presence of pathological students is equal to 1.93%, with 37.46% and 4.50% obtained with Monothetic and Polythetic analysis (global and partial), respectively. In our sample, the most frequent were students with a gaming time of 1 or 2 h, and students with a day gaming frequency of 1, 2, or 3 times a day. The items with more pathological students were Item 2 (i.e., Tolerance) and 4 (i.e., Withdrawal). Every item was positively correlated with Daily gaming time(hours) and Daily game frequency, excluding Item 4(i.e., Withdrawal). Finally, the Monothetic GAS score was positively correlated with Daily gaming time while the Polythetic Global GAS was positively correlated with Daily game frequency and negatively with Education level, instead, the Polythetic Partial GAS score was positively correlated with only Daily gaming time. Conclusion: Males are pathological gamblers more so than females and spend more time playing video games. An increase in Daily game frequency or Daily gaming time implicates an increase in video game addictions, while an increase in Education level, which generally corresponds to a greater age, implicates a decrease in game addiction. Finally, we observed that the correlations obtained between the Polythetic Partial GAS score with the independent variables such as Age, Gender, Education level, Daily gaming time (hours), and Daily game frequency were analogous to the significant correlations obtained with the Monothetic GAS score, while these correlations were different for the Polythetic Global GAS and the independent variables. These results suggest that the use of the original Polythetic scale should not be neglected.

The so-called Posthuman question - the birth of organisms generated by the encounter of biological and artificial entities (humanoid robots, cyborgs and so on) - is now on the agenda of science and, more generally, of contemporary society. This is an issue of enormous importance, which not only poses ethical questions but also, and above all, methodological questions about how it will be achieved on a scientific plane. How such entities will be born and what their functions will be? For example, what kind of consciousness will they be equipped with, in view of the function of consciousness for distinguishing the Self from others, which is the foundation of the interactive life of relationships? Many scholars believe that rapid technological progress will lead to the emergence of organisms that will simulate the functions of the mind, learn from their experiences, decode real-world information, and plan their actions and choices based on their own values elaborated from vast amounts of data and metadata. In the not-too-distant future, it is believed that these entities will acquire awareness and, consequently, decisional freedom, and perhaps even their own unique morals. In this paper, we try to show that the path towards this goal cannot avoid clarification of the problems that neuroscience has ahead of it. These problems concern: a) the way in which consciousness comes about on the basis of well-defined brain processes; b) how it represents its own organization and not a simple brain function; c) how simultaneously contains multiple distinct contents, each with its own intentionality; d) how it expresses dynamic evolutionary relations and not a set of phenomena that may be isolated; e) finally, how its order is not rigidly hierarchical, but is supported by a multiplicity of horizontal levels, each of which is in structural and functional continuum with different phenomenal events. The empirical and theoretical research effort on this topic provides an intensive contribution to the development of IC Technologies.

Background: Healthcare rehabilitator skills can be grouped into hard and soft skills. Hard skills are specific and teachable, which can be defined and measured, while soft skills are less tangible and more difficult to quantify. The aim of this study is to investigate the level of knowledge of soft skills among Italian healthcare rehabilitators, and how they were acquired. Design and Methods: Two hundred healthcare rehabilitators, who worked in Southern Italy were enrolled from September 1st to October 31st 2017, and interviewed with Computer-Assisted-Web- Interview (CAWI) software, to assess their level of soft skills. Results: Healthcare rehabilitators showed significant satisfaction with university education (59.5%), particularly for theoretical training (64%), while significant dissatisfaction was found fortechnical- practical training (63.5%), training in patients’ family management (66.5%) and stages participation to improve soft skills (59%). Dissatisfied rehabilitators were found for university education of soft skills (59%), particularly for interpersonal relationships with patients’ family (66.5%) and technical-practical train in (63.5%). Women considered the training courses about soft skills acquisition more useful than men (43.8%). Conclusions: Healthcare rehabilitator training is lacking in the teaching of both technical-practicaland soft skills. It is striking that in a healthcare profession like that of the rehabilitator, where practical and empathic skills are fundamental in the relationship with the patients, such skills are not treated in analogously with theoretical training. Significance for public health This study investigates on the perception about soft skills competence by healthcare rehabilitators working in Southern Italy. In fact, soft skills are an essential component to improvement performance in many professions and especially in healthcare professions such as healthcare rehabilitators, but unfortunately, in university courses, they are not taught sufficiently or equally as hard skills.

Background: Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide. Of the various therapeutic approaches, chemotherapy is the most widely used treatment. Among the various side effects associated with this treatment, taste alterations (TAs) have received little attention, even though they have a serious impact on the nutritional aspect and quality of life (QoL) of patients. TAs concern 75% of the patients receiving chemotherapy, and this figure is still considered to be underestimatedbeacuse could be due both to inadequate attention and to the absence of specific subjective tools able to fully evaluate TAs in patients undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: A review by querying CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases about the current status of use of the CiTAS self-evaluation scale, was performed. Results: From critical reading of the selected reports, it can be said that until now CiTAS has not been used to a large extent for evaluating taste, even at a late stage in patients undergoing chemotherapy. However, the results and the selected reports seem to indicate hope for its wider use. Conclusions: In literature, CITAS scale has been used on very heterogeneous populations and not adequately studied in specific care settings, its use within controlled trials could implement its spread. Correct and subjective evaluation of TAs would allow the planning of specific and personalized interventions aimed at providing adequate nutrition to support the maintenance and/or achievement of a correct body mass index. All this could contribute significantly to a better perception of QoL in patients undergoing chemotherapy. (www.actabiomedica.it)

During the last period of lockdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic influence, a lot of mental health professionals were able to continue working online, assisting their patients from home too. Even if there are still some doubts about videoconferencing psychotherapy (VCP), a lot of studies indicate that VCP can be feasible and clinically effective, in fact the online therapy is becoming increasingly popular, reducing distances even during the current pandemic. The aim of this study is to analyze the degree of satisfaction after using VCP in a sample of psychotherapists freely recruited through the publication on social media of a specially created questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed by performing descriptive statistics to show the qualitative and quantitative composition of the sample examined. A tree classification model was created to predict the liking of the remote therapeutic intervention based on the socio- demographic characteristics, previous experiences and aspects of psychotherapeutic orientation of the therapists recruited in the study. Through a decision tree that explains which variables are related to positive responses, the following characteristics were found to predict the degree of satisfaction of the psychotherapists in using the VCP: belonging to a specific age group; having previously used VCP; and belonging to a specific psychotherapeutic orientation. According to the results, the first two important characteristics of the psychotherapists to influence the satisfaction in their use of VCP (belonging to the specific age group 45-65 and having previously used VCP) are probably a matter that can be linked to the degree of professional maturity and experience. The innovation of this research is to highlights the real impact of the distance therapy on the main therapeutic models, concluding that to have a certain level of proficiency, according the own orientation, in the use of the VCP may influence the level of satisfaction of the psychotherapists.

Objective: Clinical and psychological HIV-related problems peak during adolescence, which coincides with transition of children and adolescents infected from mothers from pediatric to adult reference centers for HIV infection. Transition often is done without specific programs. We wanted to explore transition as an opportunity to increase the efficacy of care and the psychological well-being through a specific program. Methods: Thirteen vertically infected patients aged 13-20 years were followed up for 24 months by pediatricians, infectious disease specialists, a psychologist, and a nurse. Interventions consisted in joint clinic, simplification of therapy, patient group discussions, HIV infection explanations, and psychological support, lasting 12 months. Efficacy was measured by viro-immunological outcomes and adherence to therapy and psychological tests. Clinical, viro-immunological, and psychological evaluations were performed at 0 (T0) and 12 months (T12) and 6 months after transition to an adult center (T18). Psychological outcomes were assessed using standardized questionnaires for quality of life and self-esteem. Results: In 11/13 participants, pills administrations/day were significantly reduced. Patients with undetectable viral load and CD4+ >25% increased from 61 to 77% and from 61 to 74%, respectively. Six months after transition, all patients exhibited an undetectable viral load. Adolescents' awareness of the severity of the disease and the risk of sexual transmission was generally poor. Patients classified with "severe" psychological distress according to the quality of life index decreased from 38 to 15% and well-being increased. Similar results were observed 6 months after the transition to adult care. No effect was observed on self-esteem index. Conclusions: Specific protocols for transition should be developed to optimize resilience and psychological well-being, including routine psychological support for adolescents with HIV infection transiting from pediatric to adult centers for HIV infection.

The basic knowledge necessary for a European pediatric gastroenterologist/hepatologist/nutritionist is set-out in the training syllabus (TS) of the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN). We retrospectively compared the topics covered in ESPGHAN's training events between 2013 and 2016 with the basic knowledge TS items. Thirty-six initiatives including e-learning were identified. Twelve (33%) courses focused on gastroenterology, 9 (25%) on hepatology, and 10 (28%) on nutrition. Five (14%) courses covered >1 field and were classified "General." The initiatives covered 12 of 57 (21%) TS items; 31 of 57 items (54%) were partially covered; and 14 of 57 (25%) not covered. Five of 9 e-learning courses covered gastroenterology topics, whereas none covered hepatology topics. ESPGHAN's 3-year educational offer partially met the training needs listed in the TS. A coordinated educational program covering all TS items would harmonize training within Europe and would provide trainees with a professional portfolio for employment purposes.

The term dyspraxia defines an inability to perform a pragmatically oriented action. It doesn't yet have a precise nosographic location. According to the embodied cognition model, this disorder compromises the development of superior mental functions, the construction and the representation of the Self. In our perspective it isn't possible to reduce dyspraxia to a mere disorder of the execution of an intentional gesture and it must be included in a wider spectrum of pathological processes that compromise the functions and the development of individual mind. With the aim to identify early and to support pupils with possible motor difficulties, our contribution intends to propose a computational analysis model of the dyspraxic movements and to define the construction of a technologically assisted diagnostic system for dyspraxia, thanks to the use of an ecological observation grid (GEO-DE). The observation tool was applied in a sample of 525 subjects, aged between 48 and 72 months in order to identify the groups of motor tasks predictive of dyspraxic phenomena. The analysis of the normalized importance of the independent variables showed that the Linguistic Skill (AL) group is the most important group for the forecast of praxic deficits, it was followed in descending order by the AP (Personal Autonomy), GTI (Transitive and Intransitive Gestures), EC (Balance and Coordination) groups. The innovation in this research is to identify which movement patterns are capable of predicting praxic motor dysfunction, for an automated mixed assessment system that includes teacher evaluation.

The spontaneous capacity to produce ideas is a focal dimension of our life. It is generally agreed that creativity (a manifestation of structure and functional brain processes) defines the potential of society, and it has been explored in several aspects (e.g. from physiological, social, psychological, developmental, cognitive, and historical perspectives). Actually, if the brain is the object of investigation of the cognitive science and thus neuroscience, creativity is an integral part of human achievement and social and technological development. Over the years, it has been hard to create research protocols that associate both lines, though recently attempts have been made to connect those issues, exploring the benefits of a transdisciplinary methodology. Aim of this work is to explain the biological basis of creativity processes in order to highlight possible developments of ICT technologies to simulate, support and empowering its complex pathways.

In few months, COVID-19 outbreak, lockdown and social distancing have led an exponential increase in levels of psychological distress within the population. In the face of such conditions, the need to ensure continuity of mental health services emerged concurrently with the need of a substantial intervention reconfiguration. This paper is aimed at addressing the knowledge gained from telepsychological interventions during the COVID-19 outbreak peak to identify new research lines originating from the limits encountered during interventions. This has relevant implications even for the development of new IC technologies, and more generally for the scope and goals of CogInfoCom.

Over a century ago, psychoanalysis created an unprecedented challenge: to show that the effects of the unconscious are more powerful than those of consciousness. In an inverted scheme at present time, neurosciences challenge psychoanalysis with experimental and clinical models that are clarifying crucial aspects of the human mind. Freud himself loved to say that psychological facts do not fluctuate in the air and that perhaps one day, biologists and psychoanalysts would give a common explanation for psychic processes. Today, the rapid development of neuroimaging methods has ushered in a new season of research. Crucial questions are becoming more apparent. For instance, how can the brain generate conscious states? Does consciousness only involve limited area of the brain? These are insistent questions in a time where the tendency of neuroscience to naturalize our relationship life is ever more urgent. Consequently, these questions are also pressing: Does morality originate in the brain? Can we still say “being free” or freedom? Why does morality even exist? Lastly, is there a biologically founded universal morality? This paper will try to demonstrate how neurophysiology itself shows the implausibility of a universal morality.

We tested the hypothesis that a narrative approach may enhance a bio-psycho-social model (BPS) in caring for chronically ill children. Forty-eight narratives were collected from 12 children with six different medical conditions, their mothers, physicians, and nurses. By a textual analysis, narratives were classified on their predominant focus as disease (biological focus), illness (psychologic focus), or sickness (social focus). Sixty-one percent of narrative’ text were classified as illness, 28% as disease and 11% as sickness. All narratives had a degree of illness focus. Narratives by patients and physicians on the one hand, and nurses’ and mothers’ on the other were disease focused. Narratives were also evaluated with respect to the type of medical condition: Illness was largely prevalent in all but Crohn’s disease and HIV infection, the latter having a predominance of sickness most probably related to stigma. Narrative exploration proved a valuable tool for understanding and addressing the needs of children with complex conditions. Narrative approaches allow identification of the major needs of different patients according to health conditions and story tellers. In the narratives, we found a greater illness and disease focus and surprisingly a low sickness focus, except with HIV stories. Narrative medicine provides a tool to strengthen the BPS model in health care.

The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been extremely stressful and has produced fear and anxiety throughout the population, representing a psychological emergency. This work aimed at presenting a mental health first aid service established within an Italian university public hospital context to address four different population targets (i.e., people vulnerable to mental health problems, health-care professionals, people in isolation, and general citizenship). Specifically, the organizational structure comprising four different areas (i.e., management, clinical, communication, and research) and first data collected from the foundation of the service until 3 May 2020 are presented. Findings indicated that anxiety and fear of contagion were the main motivations prompting both the general population and health-care professionals to ask for a psychological help. Furthermore, findings indicate that clients’ current quality of life was perceived as lower than in the past but also that imagined in the future, highlighting the importance of psychological first aid interventions. This service may represent an example for helping mental health professionals in developing similar services in their local realities, promoting health and individual and community resilience.

The "born to read" initiative entails a dialogic reading to children in poor socio-economical conditions aimed at fostering cognitive and relational skills. Reading is professionally delivered by experts to promote psycho-social development of children and their parents. In this study the project was extended to include children positive at early screening for hearing impairment. A total of 26 children were included and 14 parents were taught to read aloud and emphatically. Reading session were delivered for at least 10 minutes at least 3 times/week, usually at bedtime, for one year. The Griffiths scale were applied to explore the expressive and receptive language skills (Scale C) and eye and hand coordination (Scale D), as measures of linguistic and neurocognitive skills. Program sustainability and reactions by the parents were also investigated. All 14 families successfully received the training, becoming capable of reading aloud and emphatically and provided reading sessions for the entire duration of the study. Children receiving the intervention performed slightly better than controls and those who were exposed to increased number of sessions, performed even better although the differences with controls were not significant. Parents enjoyed reading to their children. They expressed satisfaction and gratitude for being able to play an active and productive role in children rehabilitation. The results of this pilot study suggest that the born to read initiative may be considered in adjunct to medical and psychological interventions to enhance the benefits of early screening of hearing function.

Disclosure of the HIV status to infected children is often delayed due to psychosocial problems in their families. We aimed at improving the quality of life in families of HIV-infected children, thus promoting disclosure of the HIV status to children by parents. Parents of 17 HIV-infected children (4.2-18 years) followed at our Center for pediatric HIV, unaware of their HIV status, were randomly assigned to the intervention group (8 monthly sessions of family group psychotherapy, FGP) or to the control group not receiving psychotherapy. Changes in the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWB-I) and in the Short-Form State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Sf-STAI), as well as the HIV status disclosure to children by parents, were measured. Ten parents were assigned to the FGP group, while 7 parents to the controls. Psychological well-being increased in 70% of the FGP parents and none of the control group (p=0.017), while anxiety decreased in the FGP group but not in controls (60% vs. 0%, p=0.03). HIV disclosure took place for 6/10 children of the intervention group and for 1/7 of controls. Family group psychotherapy had a positive impact on the environment of HIV-infected children, promoting psychological well-being and the disclosure of the HIV status to children.

In the last years we have seen an ever increasing number of patients with haematologic disorders who need hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The whole sector of HSCT results, infact to be in a continous scientific and technological clinical progress, offering a very advanced care. Despite this, some aspects are underconsidered, some of which could be fundamental to determine the success of the care pathway, such as the experience of the illness by the patient. Using a Narrative Based Medicine approach we wanted to investigate clinical, psychosocial and organizational aspects of the patient's journey whilst undergoing HSCT.Various narrative interviews were conducted using non-structured approach. Results were analysed by thematic contents.Psycological dimension is the most compromised: above all emerged sentiments of oppression linked to the isolation period in the Low Bacterial Load (LBL) room. To note are also the different dynamics with which the patients perceive the organisation and hospital structures, and how much these factors can influence their care experience.Results suggest the need in clinical practice of an integration between qualitative and clinical approach, so as to permit the psychosocial and relational necessities to emerge, often unexpressed by patients undergoing HSCT.

Aim: To investigate whether the use of baby carriers by term infants during the first month of life is associated with increased rates of breastfeeding. Methods: Prospective cohort study. Two hundred mothers with healthy term infants were assigned to receive either a baby carrier and some accurate information and training about the use thereof or only information about breastfeeding. Study groups were followed by phone interviews. Results: Of the 100 mothers to whom baby carriers were provided, 69 utilized it for at least 1 h per day during the first month of life, while 31 did not use it at all. While breastfeeding rates were similar in both intervention and control groups at discharge from the maternity ward, mothers in the intervention group scored significantly higher with their infants at two (72% vs 51%) and at 5 months of age (48% vs 24%), respectively. The intervention group infants were breastfed significantly more frequently than those of the control group. Conclusions: Our finding seems to suggest that the use of baby carriers in healthy term infants during their first month is associated with increased breastfeeding duration.

Objectives: After active antiretroviral therapy, children with HIV are clinically well, whereas psy- chosocial issues continue to influence their quality of life. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) of the World Health Organization evaluates health status and environmental and social factors associated with health. We investigated the efficacy of the ICF to describe the health status and needs of a cohort of children and adolescents with HIV seen at a reference center for pediatric AIDS in Europe. Methods: A quantitative analysis of structured interviews was performed. Caregivers of children and adoles- cents with HIV infection in follow-up at 2 reference centers for pediatric AIDS were enrolled. Four major areas included in the ICF instrument were investigated: impairments of body structures; impairments of body functions; environmental factors; and activity limitations and restrictions to social life. Results: Forty-one families of children with HIV were enrolled. Body structures and functions were marginally impaired, whereas environmental factors and psychosocial issues had a relevant impact on quality of life. Most families consid- ered environmental factors to be "barriers"; these were poverty, unemployment, and single-parent family structure. Activity limitations and social restrictions were also reported in a few cases. Almost all parents reported problems in disclosing their child's HIV status because of the fear of social stigma. Conclusion: Psychosocial issues are part of the well-being of children with HIV. The ICF is a standard tool to evaluate the clinical and psychosocial status of children and adolescents with HIV infection and to measure the impact of therapeutic interventions and strategies on psychosocial functioning. (J Dev Behav Pediatr 31:000-000, 2010) Index terms: HIV, International Classification of Functioning, children, psychological issues, social issues.

Objective. To investigate whether supporting fathers to recognize the relevance of their role in the success of breastfeeding and teaching them how to prevent and to manage the most common lactation problems would result in more women breastfeeding.Methods. A controlled trial, in which the participating fathers were allocated in 2-month blocks to a child care training session, was conducted of 280 mothers considering breastfeeding and their 280 partners at a university obstetric department in Naples, Italy. Support and advice about breastfeeding was provided to all of the mothers. Among the fathers of the intervention group, the training session included the management of breastfeeding; among those of the control group, it did not. Primary outcome was the prevalence of full breastfeeding at 6 months. Secondary outcomes were the proportion of women who perceived their milk to be insufficient, who stopped breastfeeding because of problems, and who reported to have received help in breastfeeding management by their partners.Results The prevalence of full breastfeeding at 6 months was 25% (35 of 140) in the intervention group and 15% (21 of 140) in the control group and that of any breastfeeding at 12 months was 19% (27) and 11% (16), respectively. Perceived milk insufficiency was significantly more frequent among the mothers of the control group (38 [27%] of 140 vs 12 [8.6%] of 140), as well as breastfeeding interruption because of problems with lactation (25 [18%] of 140 vs 6 [4%] of 140). Moreover, significantly more women in the intervention group reported receiving support and relevant help with infant feeding management from their partners (128 [91%] of 140 vs 48 [34%] of 140). Among the women who had reported difficulties with lactation in the intervention and control groups (96 [69%] and 89 [64%], respectively), the prevalence of full breastfeeding at 6 months was 24% and 4.5%, respectively.Conclusions Teaching fathers how to prevent and to manage the most common lactation difficulties is associated with higher rates of full breastfeeding at 6 months.

Aim To describe the effectiveness of a population-based newborn hearing screening program in an economically deprived region of southern Italy. Methods A screening protocol was proposed for all newborns of the Campania region, starting on January, 2007. For infants identified with hearing loss, information on degree and type of hearing loss and presence of risk factors was collected. Results The infants born in the 3-year study period were 182,188. Among them, 146,026 (80%) were tested with OAE. Sensorineural hearing loss ≥40 dBnHL was established for 159 infants (1.1 × 1000). Among the NICU and WIN infants, the rate of hearing loss was respectively 9 × 1000 and 0.67 × 1000. Follow-up information was available for 111 children (70%), as 48 (30%) got care in other regions or health facilities. Most infants were fitted hearing aids by 1 month after diagnosis and 15 children (13.5%) received a cochlear implant at a mean age of 25 months (SD 10). Conclusions Even in a setting of population poverty, a universal newborn screening program can deliver satisfactory outcomes. The coverage and the tracking system of the program need to be improved, as well as the cooperation between public and private health services.

Infections are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children with acute leukemia. Central-line (CL) devices increase this population's risk of serious infections. Within the context of a quality improvement (QI) project, we tested the effect of caregiver education on CL management on the CL-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rate among children with acute leukemia seen at a large referral center in Italy. The intervention consisted of 9 in-person sessions for education and practice using mannequins and children. One hundred and twenty caregivers agreed to participate in the initiative. One hundred and five (87.5%) completed the training, 5 (4.1%) withdrew after the first session, and 10 (8.3%) withdrew during practical sessions. After educational intervention, the overall CLABSI rate was reduced by 46% (from 6.86 to 3.70/1000 CL-days). CLABSI rate was lower in children whose caregivers completed the training (1.74/1000 CL-days, 95% CI 0.43–6.94) compared with those who did not receive any training (12.2/1000 CL-days, 95% CI 7.08–21.0, P

To investigate whether the use of baby carriers by term infants during the first month of life is associated with increased rates of breastfeeding. Prospective cohort study. Two hundred mothers with healthy term infants were assigned to receive either a baby carrier and some accurate information and training about the use thereof or only information about breastfeeding. Study groups were followed by phone interviews. Of the 100 mothers to whom baby carriers were provided, 69 utilized it for at least 1 h per day during the first month of life, while 31 did not use it at all. While breastfeeding rates were similar in both intervention and control groups at discharge from the maternity ward, mothers in the intervention group scored significantly higher with their infants at two (72% vs 51%) and at 5 months of age (48% vs 24%), respectively. The intervention group infants were breastfed significantly more frequently than those of the control group. Our finding seems to suggest that the use of baby carriers in healthy term infants during their first month is associated with increased breastfeeding duration.

Prefazione al volume

Il contributo prende in esame il lessico usato alla fine del XIX secolo dai medici del manicomio di Girifalco (CZ), relativamente agli strumenti e alle terapie adottate nella pratica quotidiana delle cure psichiatriche e rilevato in un campione significativo di cartelle cliniche (CC). L’obiettivo è quello di identificare gli usi specifici e/o allargati dei lemmi presenti nel campione in oggetto, lungo un periodo, che va dal 1881 al 1894, nel quale non si era ancora formata né tantomeno specializzata la terminologia tecnica di settore. Gli archivi storici di ex ospedali psichiatrici sono preziose fonti di informazione e di particolare interesse, ai fini di questo studio, è il linguaggio adottato dai medici in fase di compilazione del diario clinico, facente parte della cartella clinica, in cui sono riportate in testo libero l’anamnesi e tutte le informazioni cliniche raccolte durante il periodo di ricovero del paziente, ivi comprese le cure praticate e gli strumenti utilizzati. La ricerca ha riguardato un campione di 536 CC, all’interno delle quali sono stati rilevati 63 lemmi designanti strumenti, terapie e patologie per un insieme di 975 occorrenze totali; di alcuni di questi lemmi viene inoltre tracciata brevemente la storia e l'etimologia.

Le attuali conoscenze sulle principali suddivisioni della corteccia cerebrale umana, coniugate alle evidenze della fisiologica connettività strutturale e funzionale tra tutte le aree corticali e le strutture subcorticali, hanno consentito un notevole approfondimento sulla fisiopatologia e sulla correlazione anatomo-funzionale delle malattie neurodegenerative. In questo contributo si cerca di chiarire la complessità del network linguistico coinvolto nelle malattie neurodegenerative progressive, delle quali sono appunto comuni i disturbi del comportamento emotivo e sociale, così come i disordini cognitivi, e in particolare del linguaggio. Alla storia degli studi sul linguaggio emotivo nelle patologie neurodegenerative, affianchiamo uno studio pilota sulle forme della espressione e della tematizzazione delle emozioni in una paziente affetta da malattia di Alzheimer (Alzheimer's disease, AD).

Il volume, incentrato sulle pratiche narrative nei contesti della cura, si pone l’obiettivo di mettere a confronto pensieri, studi, interessi di ricerca ed interventi formativi di un gruppo di ricercatori e professionisti che da anni operano nell’ambito socio-educativo e sanitario secondo un orientamento umanistico alla cura, restituita nella complessità e profondità esistenziale e dentro la più ampia cornice delle Medical Humanities. Il lavoro intende, quindi, sollevare interrogativi e riflessioni attraverso cui interpellare criticamente il pensare e l’agire della cura nei vari ambiti (in particolare, quello medico-sanitario) in una prospettiva pedagogica di ampio respiro, che possa essere in grado di rimettere al centro le nozioni di narrazione e di narratività. Attraverso l’utilizzo di differenti dispositivi formativi – l’arte, il cinema, il teatro, la letteratura e i new media – il testo evidenzia sia l’importanza di una formazione degli operatori dal punto di vista relazionale sia la potenza trasformativa che il raccontarsi e il raccontare possono avere su quanti – come i pazienti di una struttura ospedaliera – attraversano particolari momenti di difficoltà e di disagio.

Il saggio si sofferma sulla cultura visuale quale strumento di conoscenza del sé professionale per cui lo studente è incoraggiato a sviluppare competenze nelle ricerche culturali all’interno del complesso dibattitto che investe lo spazio sociale dei media, dell’arte, della costruzione dell’immaginario, e più in generale ad essere in grado di dispiegare queste competenze nel proprio ambito professionale. Le metodologie didattiche che si servono di supporti audio e video appaiono essere quelle che maggiormente stimolano le riflessioni degli studenti, favorendo il recupero e l’elaborazione di aspetti emotivi della propria esperienza formativa e il potenziamento di competenze riflessive.