Lor “basic psychologist” arrives in Lombardy: the regional law was approved which introduces this important service in primary care within the territorial health service network, including community homes. A fundamental step towards making mental wellbeing support accessible to all.
Basic psychologist: Lombardy says yes
Starting after Covid, there has been an increasingly strong demand among people for psychological support at the level of basic medicine, i.e. with prices that are approachable even for those with limited economic capabilities. Slowly, therefore, the idea that it was right to recognize an expert within the affiliated healthcare system also made its way into the institutions. The legislation, in fact, is based exactly on this principle: aims to guarantee an immediate response to psychological distress through first level medicine.
In Lombardy the basic psychologist becomes law (Getty IMages)
A deeply felt need
Psychological distress, it is known, is a very silent discomfort, because it is often silent and hidden, but for this very reason it has been ignored for too long. Suffice it to say that from the detection ofIpsos Global Health Service Monitorit emerged that the Mental health is the primary concern today when you ask people what the main health problems their country faces today are. This void of assistance made itself felt very strongly especially after the pandemic, transforming the recognition of mental health protection into an absolutely central and urgent issue.
What will the new basic psychologist service be like?
Prevention, diagnosis and early intervention in the case of psychological distress will be the central points of the new service. The new expert, or “basic psychologist”, will work together with general practitioners, paediatricians of free choice and above all with the already active psychology area of the ASST. Furthermore, where it is necessary to direct the user towards more specialized paths, it will orient them towards the most appropriate direction. The goal is to introduce in every House of Commonsty a professional psychologist which you can contact directly, without the need for a medical prescription.
What happens in the other Regions
Lombardy is not the first region to make a law in this regard: Puglia did so in May 2023 with the unanimous approval of the bill which provides that freelance psychologists are called by the local health authorities to provide primary psychological assistance in collaboration with general practitioners and paediatricians of free choice. And it has already introduced this figure into the basic healthcare system too Sicily, Campania, Lazio, Lombardy, Piedmont, Umbria And Veneto.
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