This article presents the results of a qualitative study aiming to consider the relationship between ambiguous loss and anticipatory mourning amongst relatives of missing people in Italy. Eight people participated in the research, narrating their experiences of losing a beloved person (one found alive, three found dead, and four still missing). Findings suggest the presence of a particular form of ambiguous loss, characterised by traits typical of both prolonged and traumatic grief. These findings describe how families are faced with an emotional vortex related to a never-ending wait, and how the mourning is solved only when the missing person is found dead or alive. The discovery of a corpse is traumatic but it allows mourners to fully recognise their grief. When a person is found, it changes the relationship in a positive way. When neither of these events happen, mourners have two different kinds of reactions: they experience either a prolonged grief or a drive to solve their suffering by helping other people (post-traumatic growth). In this study, it is highlighted how a community can be useful or detrimental in this process, and the importance of psychological and social support to prevent significant clinical outcomes is stressed.

(1) Background: The Italian Constitutional Court’s decision n. 99/2019 abolished the distinction between physical and psychological health care in the Italian prison system. However, this and other changes to the penitentiary system present challenges to prison staff, which may vary based on their roles and backgrounds; (2) Purpose: To create a process of dialogue and collaboration that include different points of view, needs, and proposals regarding mental health in prisons, this study collects and integrates the perspectives of 91 prison staff who work in various capacities in eight prisons in northeast Italy. (3) Methods: Each participant was involved in either a focus group or a semi-structured interview, and thematic analysis was used to process the resulting transcripts; (3) Results: Through this process, 10 themes were derived that highlight the difficulties of working with prisoners with psychiatric disorders or psychological distress, including lack of human and economic resources, lack of positive communication between prisoners and society and a sense of professional incompetency; (4) Conclusions: Based on these themes, the need for increased points of view, dialogue, and collaboration between prison professionals and between prison and society is discussed, and the current feasibility of treating psychiatric disorders in prison is considered.

Breast cancer (BC) in women under 50 is a potentially traumatic experience that can upset a woman’s life during a crucial phase of her lifespan. Anticipatory mourning linked to the diagnosis of BC can produce a series of inevitable losses similar to those of the bereaved. Narration can be one tool to construct meaning, to grow through the experience, and reconfigure time perspectives during and after the illness. The aim of this study was to apply the Meaning of Loss Codebook (MLC) to the narrative context of young women with BC. An ad hoc narrative interview was administered to 17 women at four times during the first year of treatment. A thematic analysis was performed using the MLC, adopting a bottom-up and top-down methodology. The results highlight the MLC’s usefulness in capturing the experiences of the women, allowing for a greater appreciation of the nuances of the meanings embodied in their narratives. The thematic categories grounded in the MLC cover the whole experience of BC during the first year of treatment, attesting to the possibility of extending the use of the MLC to observe the longitudinal elaboration of the psychic experience of BC in addition to its established validity in the context of bereavement and loss.

This study focuses on the dimensions of dignity, linking Chochinov’s Dignity Therapy to Schwartz’s Theory of Values. The use of family photo albums has enriched the application of dignity therapy. Seven terminal patients in home-based palliative care participated in the therapeutic intervention. To measure the effects of the intervention, we administered the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale and the Patient Dignity Inventory, then, at the end of the meetings, collected the opinions of participants, available nurses, and relatives who attended the sessions. The resulting generativity documents were then analyzed through thematic analysis, which revealed three main themes linked to both fundamental values and the dimensions of dignity: The relationship between continuity of self and myriad values in the context of family relationships; personal dignity as characterized by the values of personal success, hope, and wisdom; and hope and generativity. The fourth theme reflected the participants’ final judgements on the intervention, which were highly positive and greatly encouraged further use of photographs in similar therapeutic interventions. The assessment protocol highlighted a significant decrease in tiredness amongst the participants and a trend towards a significant decrease in drowsiness after the intervention.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of individuals, families, and children worldwide. In Italy, the implementation of measures such as lockdowns and distance learning in schools affected the mental health of children and families. Methods: This article employs a qualitative method to explore the efficacy of a death education project that aimed to help primary school children process the emotions and losses that they experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study encompassed both the children who took part in the death education project and their teachers and parents to investigate their perspectives on the emotions of the minors and the effectiveness of the project. Results: Distance learning posed challenges for the learning process and exacerbated social inequalities. The children suffered from limited social contact with their friends and experienced negative emotions, including anger, fear, and concern for the health of their loved ones. The death education project provided a safe space for children’s emotional expression and facilitated their acquisition of coping strategies. Open communication between adults and children about illness and death proved effective in mitigating the psychological impacts of loss and preventing traumatic bereavement. Conclusion: The findings highlight the utility of death education in enhancing children’s ability to express their emotions and approach the topic of death more frankly.

This qualitative study was conducted in critical care units and emergency services and was aimed at considering the death notification (DN) phenomenology among physicians (notifiers), patient relatives (receivers) and those who work between them (nurses). Through the qualitative method, a systemic perspective was adopted to recognise three different categories of representation: 23 clinicians, 13 nurses and 11 family members of COVID-19 victims were interviewed, totalling 47 people from all over Italy (25 females, mean age: 46,36; SD: 10,26). With respect to notifiers, the following themes emerged: the changes in the relational dimension, protective factors and difficulties related to DN. With respect to receivers, the hospital was perceived as a prison, bereavement between DN, lost rituals and continuing bonds. Among nurses, changes in the relational dimension, protective factors and the impact of the death. Some common issues between physicians and nurses were relational difficulties in managing distancing and empathy and the support of relatives and colleagues. The perspective of receivers showed suffering related to loss and health care professionals’ inefficacy in communication. Specifically, everyone considered DNs mismanaged because of the COVID-19 emergency. Some considerations inherent in death education for DN management among health professionals were presented.