B021331 - CRISIS AND EVOLUTIONARY TRANSITIONS IN TERMS OF DISEASE

Italian

Knowledge and understanding:
The course aims to promote knowledge and reflection on chronic illness during the cycle of life, using different models and a systemic and multifactorial approach: cognitive, affective, and social aspects; main characteristics of the most disseminated chronic diseases; different psychological techniques to support the patient and his/her relatives during the different illness phases: from diagnosis to the end of life, and grief; major hospital services for the support and rehabilitation of the chronic patient (hospital school, clown therapy, pet therapy, art therapy, music therapy, book therapy, oncological aesthetic service, writing laboratory etc.); strategies to cope with disease.
Moreover, the course aims to promote comprehension and acquire skills about Narrative Based Medicine, biographical narratives, psychological research methodologies in the hospital context.


Applying knowledge and understanding.
The course provides the fundamental skills to cope with case study of chronic illness conditions, helping applying developmental transitions to disease conditions, detect the main risk and protection factors that can influence the quality of life, evaluate illness dimensions to in-depth understanding psychosocial processes, and define approaches and interventions in supporting families and individuals. The course helps to use narration to acquire, understand and integrate the different points of view of those involved in the disease and in the care processes.

Making judgements:
The course encourages autonomous and critical reflection about transitions applied to disease conditions, also working in groups.


Communication skills:
The course promotes the knowledge and the proper use of specialist vocabulary, and the expression and arguing personal point of view.

Learning skills:
The course provides skills required for ongoing learning, helping in detecting and evaluating different and useful sources, experiences, and materials.

Models for illness understanding; illness as biographical disruption in the life cycle (perinatal period, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and elderly); hospital services for children, adolescents and adults. Diagnosis’ communication, illness and disease’s comprehension in individual and family perspective; psychologist’s role during patients’ sickness. End of life condition and grief. Narrative Based Medicine.

Knowledge of the main characteristics of psychological development during the cycle of life (childhood, adolescence, adulthood, elderly), gained within precedent courses in development psychology and/or clinical psychology.

Knowledge and understanding:
Lessons, seminars in collaboration with external experts.
Use of books, comic books, articles lectures, films, tv series about illness during the cycle of life.
Reflections and discussion in small and bigger groups.

Applying knowledge and understanding.
3 exercises about illness narratives on which to apply the principal methodologies of narratives’ interpretations, with discussion.


Making judgements:
Group discussions on illness’ narratives. Interactive lessons.

Communication skills:
Individual and group exercises and class discussion. Interactive lessons.

Learning skills:
Lessons, seminars, exercises.

Knowledge and understanding:
Oral examination.
Oral examination pertains both a reflection on a case study narrative and on all topics of the course.


Applying knowledge and understanding:
Reflection on a case study narrative.

Making judgements:
Reflection on a case study narrative.

Communication skills
Oral examinations. Interactive lessons.

Learning skills
Oral examinations. Ability to critically reflect on illness’ narratives. Ability to expose all the topics of the course.

Disease, Illness and sickness definition: illness as biographical disruption. Meaning about disease in cycle of life perspective; models for illness understanding; illness during perinatal and pediatric periods. Disease during adolescence in terms of adjustment, coping, resilience, and psychological sufferance and so on… hospital services offered to children and adolescents (pet therapy, music therapy, play therapy, clown therapy, specific services offered by Meyer’s Pediatric Hospital). Hospital school: how to promote normality and school continuity in children and families spending long periods in the hospital. Disease during adulthood and aging. Communication and comprehension of the diagnosis in the cycle of life: how to help the patient in different diseases’ phases to understand the diagnosis and how to foster diagnosis communication by sanitary staff. End of life conditions. Grief. Narrative based medicine and illness narratives.

• Tomberli, L. & Ciucci, E. (2020). Crisi e transizioni in condizioni di malattia. Conoscere e affrontare la malattia cronica nel ciclo di vita. McGraw Hill Education, Milano.
• Smorti, A., & Donzelli, G. P. (2015). La medicina narrativa in pediatria. Come le storie ci aiutano a capire la malattia. SEID, Firenze.
• Slides and materials uploaded on moodle

Course program, the timetable of course activities, suggested readings, learning objective, teaching methods, type of assessment will be presented at the beginning of the course. All students are invited to be present at the beginning of the course, even those who cannot attend the course or can do it but only rarely.
In addition to the slide presented during classes, the timetable of course activities, also Syllabus will be put online on the e-learning site.
All students (i.e., attending and non-attending) must study all materials uploaded on moodle, including seminar materials.
All students (attending and non-attending) are strongly invited to attend exercises on illness narratives.