Reasoning about the work of Franco Basaglia: the challenge of training new psychiatrists.

Abstract

The work and teaching of Franco Basaglia - Italian psychiatrist and neurologist - has shown that it is possible to respond to the needs of people with mental health and addiction problems without applying restrictive measures, or resorting to large depersonalizing institutions, but in a welfare system whose keywords are community, proximity, home care, integrated approach. Today, however, the challenge is on training, where the current contribution of the university does not seem sufficient. There are many skills that require adequate training: from the development of personalized therapeutic-rehabilitative pathways aimed at pursuing goals of capacitation and social inclusion (and not only pharmacological containment of symptoms), to the clinical and psychosocial management of complex cases; from the relationship between psychiatry and justice for offenders with psychiatric disorders, to the relationship with the social policies of local authorities for social and health integration activities.