Meeting unexpressed psychological requests in a new context: the psychologist in chemistry

Aim Considering the prevalence of psychological diseases and the number of people who receive some kind of psychological or psychotherapeutic care, we found that there is a need of psychological support which is not expressed by the population or not totally fulfilled. As psychological services are not always reimbursed by the National Health Service (they are provided freely only to ad hoc cases) economic barriers would probably be a reasons that can preclude the access to this kind of services. Moreover, population should have the opportunity to access to a service provided in easily accessible locations diffused all around the city and where it is easy to communicate about health issues. The “Psychologist in the neighborhood” project is developed by Catholic University of Sacred Heart, in cooperation with Health Department of Milan and two Chemists' Associations and is an attempt to intercept a part of these requests, began in February 2009. The project allows anyone to book a free psychological counseling cycle in 23 chemists in Milan, directed to the understanding and the management of psychological diseases and to the enhancement of well-being. The service provides, after a first evaluation interview, the opportunity to benefit of a small cycle of free psychological counseling (5 or 6 meetings). Depending to the nature of the needs these cycles can be sufficient to solve the issues or may be used to re-address the need to the most appropriate location (local services such as hospitals or centers for the treatment of addictions). This service is available half-a-day per week in each chemist. Potential users can ask to the chemist to meet a psychologist for an interview in a dedicated location inside the pharmacy. Our aim was to evaluate the requests made by patients who underwent this new service, to compare psychological and demographical characteristics with those from general population and to analyze the preliminary results of interventions made in chemistry. Method Socio-demographic data, reasons for the access, implicit and explicit requests, together with outcomes of intervention are collected during and after visits. The patients’ mood state was assessed before and after intervention using the Psychological Global Well Being Index (PGWBI) (Dupuy, 1984), a brief self-administered questionnaire which contains 20 items rated on a six-point scale, where a higher score indicates a better quality of life and measures six mood states (Anxiety, Depressed Mood, Positive Well-Being, Self-Control, General Health, Vitality). Results and Discussion Results are ongoing and will be presented at the congress.