title: Narrative medicine to highlight values of Italian pain therapists in a changing healthcare system.
abstract: Until 2010 pain management in Italy was only partially covered and no structural and qualitative mapping had ever been realized. The VEDUTA project was designed to provide a tool to unite pain therapists in national cooperation. Quantitative questionnaires and narrative plots were sent to 350 Italian specialists; 184 therapists completed the first section and 87 also wrote their stories. Narratives were analyzed through transactional analysis and emotional intelligence. Overall, results show that a patient-centered approach is common in daily practice, but that bureaucracy is endangering quality of care. This cultural analysis, through both the application of quantitative assessment and narrative plots, provides a useful tool to improve those aspects of the system detrimental to the appropriate management of pain in Italy.
authors.affiliation: ISTUD Foundation, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Giulia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Marini
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reale
authors.forename: Antonietta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cappuccio
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spizzichino
authors.forename: Pierangelo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zini
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Amato
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mameli
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Raffaeli
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D033262:Narration; D059408:Pain Management; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology
keywords: narrative; pain; working climate