In 2021, 1.7 billion were spent to access a psychological support service and the number of people with common emotional disorders is estimated to have increased by 25 percent. 65 percent of the Italian population said they are experiencing, or have recently experienced, psychological distress. There is therefore a great demand from people for psychological support and the State must be able to offer everyone a primary psychological care service in the area. This was stated by the vice president of the Social Affairs Commission Luciano Ciocchetti (Fdi), first signatory of the bill 814 ‘Institution of the primary care psychology service within the National Health Service’.
“The purpose of the bill is to provide for the establishment of the primary care psychology service within the local health authorities, structured at the health district level and relating to the functional area according to the regulations in force, in order to guarantee the psychological well-being in the field of primary care medicine, in territorial health and social-health services and facilities, as an improvement service intended for families and communities.The service would thus guarantee a first level of psychological intervention which provides for the rapid taking of the patient, easy to use, efficient, useful, with a moderate economic impact and complementary with the other health and social-health services, through the creation of a system of cooperation between general practitioners and pediatricians of free choice as well as with other specialist doctors.
“The establishment of the figure of the basic psychologist is an important and necessary measure because it would work alongside family doctors and paediatricians. We have been talking about it for years, but today there are many signs that tell us that the time is ripe”, he said. said the president of the National Council of the Order of Psychologists, David Lazzari. The goal is “to catch early and reduce the burden of psychological disorders in the population”. The time is right to introduce this figure in basic assistance, Lazzari points out, “not only to address the psychological needs linked to the most serious disorders but above all to address those linked to situations of malaise and discomfort, which require timely listening and a preventive action, essential to prevent them from turning into disease”.
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