BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The course prepares participants for the competencies required of psychologists in primary
care settings, aligning with the latest international experiences and specifically within the
framework of the Lombardy Regional Law No. 16, approved by resolution on January 23,
2024, which establishes the "Primary Care Psychology Service." The course's perspective, in
line with modern conceptions, focuses on the patient and values all three theoretical
perspectives (psychodynamic, systemic, behavioral-cognitive), putting them at the service of
clinical understanding.
Competencies Acquired by Course Participants:
Evaluation and Diagnosis: Initial psychological assessment and collaboration with
family doctors to identify mental health issues. Specifically, the course will teach
knowledge, techniques, and tools for treating psychological symptoms associated with
chronic medical conditions (heart failure, hypertension, COPD, diabetes, obesity,
metabolic syndrome) and neuropsychological signs of cognitive decline.
Brief Interventions: Evidence-based brief and targeted psychological interventions,
such as stress management techniques, counseling, and support for emotional and
behavioral issues. Acquisition of the stepped-care model for care planning.
Prevention: Promote health through prevention activities, education, and population
awareness by working on individual, social, and relational psychological mechanisms
that regulate motivation.
Multidisciplinary Collaboration: Work closely with other healthcare professionals,
including doctors, nurses, and social workers, to offer an integrated approach to
patient care.
Support for Family Doctors: Provide consultation and support to family doctors in
managing patients with mental health issues, thereby improving the effectiveness of
primary care through case management approaches.
Course Prerequisites
Understanding the concepts of diagnosis and specifically the distinction between
nosographic, functional, and explanatory diagnoses. These skills are taught in the Clinical
and Health Psychology course and in the Clinical and Psychosomatic Psychology course
Teaching Methods
Frontal lessons; clinical examples also through video recordings of sessions or part of sessions with patients suffering from organic pathologies; testimonials from professional relating to primary care; group exercises on clinical cases.
Assessment Methods
Written multiple choice test (21 questions, 1 point for each correct) with questions relating to the main reference text; two open questions, one about the additional text among those of your choice and the other about a clinical case (max 5 points per question). The time available is 120 minutes.
Contents
The prerequisities for a psychology of primary care will be presented, describing the main areas of interaction between physical and medical health, as well as the critical issues and resources in the management of these aspects in the outpatient setting by general pratictioners (GP). Starting from the framework of the biopsychosocial model and of related clinical and theoretical contribution (i.e. Narrative Medicine), the characteristics of the presented approach will be outlined, describing, also by means of clinical examples, the importance of an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to the patients. The main models and areas of possible collaborations between GP and psychologists will then be presented and discussed, from the referral model to the more collaborative forms of psychological and medical care. The current stepped care collaborative model will be described, together with the methods and tools available for the different levels of intervention. We will then describe the psychological and neuropsychological assessment in primary care, by means of qualitative and qualitative tools, in the different clinical conditions. Subsequently, the case formulation and the application of the different evidence-based psychologycal techniques will be described. Finally, the role of the psychologist addressed not only to individual subjects in treatment, but also fo family members and to the at risk population, will be outlined.
Online Resources
More information
Exam contents: materials and lecture notes, main text and a text from the three available titles.
Mandatory text: Michele Liuzzi, La psicologia delle cure primarie. Clinica, modelli di intervento e buone pratiche. Il Mulino, 2016.
A text of your choice from these:
- Rita Charon. Medicina Narrativa. Onorare le storie dei pazienti. Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2019.
- Luigi Solano. Dal sintomo alla persona. Medico e psicologo insieme per l’assistenza di base. FrancoAngeli. 2016.
- Fabrizio Benedetti. L’effetto placebo. Breve viaggio tra mente e corpo. Carocci Editore. 2012 (libro). Together, the review article: ‘Fabrizio Benedetti, Elisa Carlino & Antonella Pollo. How placebo change the patient’s brain. Neuropsychopharmacology REVIEWS (2011) 36, 339-354.