It is called Living Better and is a free project offered by the Psychologists’ Welfare Fund (Enpap), intended primarily for those who were affected by the floods of a year ago in Emilia Romagna, Marche and Tuscany, but which offers everyone, in indistinctly, the possibility of testing one’s psychological state of health and understanding whether one has even mild discomforts and disorders, such as, for example, anxiety and depression. The initiative starts today, April 18th. On the dedicated Enpap website you can access a scientific test structured in 27 questions, which provides an initial assessment of the individual’s mental well-being, directing, depending on the result, to the self-help manuals present on the portal and downloadable for free or suggesting interventions of psychological support. Up to this point the part is open to everyone, free of charge. Only for citizens who were affected by the floods of May 2023 in Emilia Romagna, Marche and Tuscany, based on the test result Enpap then makes support courses available for the mildest disorders of anxiety and depression, also free of charge.
The project
Vivere Meglio has reached its second edition this year and aims to promote access to psychological support therapies. Created in collaboration with some Italian universities, it also aims to support, with a work grant, the psychologists registered with the organization who have won a tender and who, in turn, provide a certain number of treatments for disorders free of charge to the citizens of their territories most common emotional disorders (anxiety, depression, adjustment disorders). The first edition, which started in October 2022, was a success: five million resources allocated by Enpap, 945 professionals involved and 9,222 beneficiaries of the service. «We started on an experimental basis with a project aimed at all Italians focused on post-Covid inconveniences – explains the president of the Cassa, Damiano Felice Torricelli – thanks to extraordinary resources set aside over the years. Now we must focus on targeted initiatives such as support for flood victims.” For this reason Enpap has now allocated one million: it will be allocated to 162 psychologists operating in the flooded areas who, in turn, will be able to offer around ten psychological support sessions. The major emergencies will be selected, on the one hand, by the free self-assessment test on the site (the one open to all) and, on the other, by family doctors in the area.
«In the presence of emergencies and catastrophes, such as floods, there is a great immediate collective response – Torricelli further underlines – which, inevitably, thins out following some time. While it is necessary to intervene even following six months or a year because it is in this phase that disorders can emerge, also linked to adaptation to new conditions”.
Structure
Vivere Meglio psychological treatments are based on the British Iapt experience (Improving access to psychological therapies), a project that the public health system in the United Kingdom has been implementing for more than 10 years to provide, every year, free, brief and targeted psychological interventions to a million people suffering from psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression. The treatments proposed by Vivere Meglio are therefore based on the model stepped care, whereby interventions are dosed in relation to each person’s needs, in a targeted and gradual manner. Also in 2024, people who, following an initial screening conducted online, will access free treatments will have the opportunity to follow short and focused treatments with a psychologist or psychotherapist. In the last edition, 80% of the people treated recorded an improvement.
How to access the test for everyone
By connecting to the site, every citizen will be able to carry out the initial screening, always free for everyone, consisting of 27 questions, to find out “how their psychological well-being is”. Following the online screening, those who need treatment will have a specific indication and, in fact, if they live in the flooded areas, they will be able to have access to free psychological consultancy or psychotherapy meetings. Also on the site, anyone can download self-help or psycho-educational manuals which contain useful information for managing, alone or with the assistance of a psychologist, very common psychological problems such as stress, anger, anxiety, sleep disorders, mourning, etc. . The booklets are drawn up and updated on the basis of the latest scientific knowledge and offer concrete support to those who use them.
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2024-04-19 02:50:34