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Communication Skills Activities in Portugal
Dr. Luigi Grassi
Professor and Chair of Psychiatry
Chair Department of Biomedical & Specialty Surgical Sciences
University of Ferrara, Italy
Dr. Luzia Travado
In Italy psycho-oncology was developed in 1985 with the first services created within the National Health Service starting at the National Cancer Institutes in Milano and Genova. The formation of the Italian Society of Psycho-Oncology (SIPO) (www.siponazionale.it) in 1985 also promoted the establishment of a "culture" of psychosocial care in cancer patients and was followed by the development of more programs throughout the country in university and health care settings. A survey by the Italian Society of Psycho-Oncology, the Italian Association of Cancer Patients and the Institute of Health in 2005 indicated the existence of at least 100 Psycho-oncology Services within the National Health Service. Training courses in psycho-oncology, including masters and specialization courses, workshops on communication skill training and the psychosocial consequences of cancer and psychosocial interventions, have been developed in the University system, such as the University La Sapienza in Rome and the Universities of Ferrara, Turin, and Naples. Several multicenter psycho-oncology research projects have been carried out in Italy, frequently with the involvement of other countries, particularly those in Southern Europe and in the Mediterranean area (such as Portugal, Spain, Austria).
A report on cancer rehabilitation (White Book on Rehabilitation, 2008) by the Italian Federation of Cancer Patients Associations, supported by the Ministry of Health and Social Policy, with the collaboration of many associations including the Italian Society of Psycho-Oncology, has stressed the right of all cancer patients to receive proper psychosocial support. The most recent National Cancer Plan 2010-2012 and the document on Reducing the Burden of Cancer - Years 2011-2013, of the Italian Ministry of Health, has endorsed this position. Thus psycho-oncology and the need for a comprehensive psychosocial care of cancer patients are formally recognized and acknowledged in several parts of the Act, with a specific paragraph dedicated to psycho-oncology. Psycho-Oncology is also formally represented among the seven areas of training for all the oncology professionals (diagnosis, prevention, screening, rehabilitation, palliative care, pain treatment, psycho-oncology), which the Ministry of Health indicates as a needed essential level of training (Lefo), with specific reference to the promotion of effective communication skills.
Thus in Italy there is a true psycho-oncology "movement" promoted by the government and nurtured by the Italian Psycho Oncology Society and Advocacy Organizations and the incorporation of psycho-oncology training in schools of specialization. This has resulted in a rich research agenda and collaborations between European countries which have all promoted a truly comprehensive model of care of all cancer patients and their families.
Biography
Luigi Grassi M.D. is Professor and Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Ferrara Italy and Chair of the Department of Biomedical and Specialist Surgical Sciences. He worked as an attending psychiatrist at the Community Mental Health Services in Ferrara, then he moved to the University of Ferrara where he was the chief of the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Service and the Psycho-Oncology Service at the S .Anna University Hospital in Ferrara from 1993 to 2001 and since 2002, the Director of the Clinical Psychiatry Unit, Integrated Department of Mental Health and Drug Abuse, NHS Community Health Agency, in Ferrara, Italy. Dr. Grassi has served as President of the International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS) from 2006 to 2008. He has been the Chair of the IPOS Federation of Psycho-Oncology Societies since 2008 and of the Section on Psycho-Oncology and Palliative Care of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) since 2005..Dr. Grassi is author of many scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals and books on psychiatric aspects of medical illness and psycho-oncology, including the book edited with Dr Michelle Riba, Clinical Psycho-Oncology: an International perspective, (Wiley, 2012). For his work he was awarded the 2012 Arthur Sutherland Award for excellence in teaching research and clinical care by the International Psycho Oncology Society.
