Introduction: The WHO European Mental Health Action Plan (2013-2030) emphasises the need to generate services that are more inclusive and attentive to the co-construction of care practices. This exploratory research investigates the needs of young substance abusers shown during their stay in residential communities; in particular, it explores the idea that treatment may include a new phase focused on how to manage moderate or controlled alcohol intake during residential care. Interviews with young ex-users open up critical reflections on complete abstinence programmes from all substances, including alcohol, as a prerequisite for discharge and also provide examples of how to co-design a plan for mindful drinking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Many studies have investigated patients' understandings of how to optimise mental health services. However, only a few studies in the Italian context have involved experts by experience (EbEs), who can be ex-users, family members of ex-users or current service collaborators. Their role is crucial in implementing collaborative service quality assessment projects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE SUBJECT?: In the context of health and social care, situations at the limit or beyond the role of the professional, such as falling in love and physical attraction between a client and a nurse, are very common events. In residential contexts, the construction of the professional relationship is made more complex than in other care contexts since sharing daily life, routine, constant contact and isolation contribute to making relationships more intense from an emotional point of view. Moreover, the same elements that promote the therapeutic process (interpersonal closeness, self-disclosure, trust) are also sources of role ambivalence and possible emotional misunderstandings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn recent years, the use of the adjective "therapeutic" has expanded to encompass a great variety of experiences, blurring the line between what is effectively therapeutic and what is not. Proceeding from the idea that a word's meaning is linked to its use in a particular linguistic game, we will analyse the etymons "therapy" and "psychotherapy" and the change in their meanings over time. This background will guide us in the qualitative analysis of the so-called "therapeutic activities" available on the websites of 14 Italian therapeutic communities for treating addiction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs
April 2022
WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: It is well known that psychotropic drugs, besides having beneficial effects, may become a source of addiction. Drug therapy involving methadone is traditionally considered an essential medicine in the treatment for heroin dependence since it significantly reduces drug injecting and death rates associated with opioid dependence. WHAT THE PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: This paper investigates a paradoxical situation: the use of methadone therapy to maintain a condition of addiction rather than to overcome it.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF