Disease as a transition process. Psychological processes working during disease, with a particular reference to child and parents.
Communication of bad news. Narrative approach to disease transitions
– Smorti, A. Donzelli GP (2015), La medicina narrativa in pediatria. Firenze SEID editore
-Baile, W.F. Buckman, R., Lenzi,R., Glober, G., Beale, E., Kudelka, A. P. (2000). SPIKES—A Six-Step Protocol for Delivering Bad News:Application to the Patient with Cancer. The Oncologist,5:302-311
- Bury, M. (1982). Chronic illness as biographical disruption. Sociology of Health and Illness Vol. 4 No. 2 July 167-182
http://www.tellingkidsaboutcancer.com/AgeAppropriateAdvice
-Managing communication with young people who have a potentially life threatening chronic illness/ qu.pdf
-communicating_with_the_dying_child_2006.pdf
Learning Objectives
Aims
Knowledge and understanding
A detailed knowledge on those changes affecting a person during disease conditions. Understanding the complexity and the variety of those development elements that, in a systematic way, co-determine
changes. Disease in pediatric age: relations among child, relatives and doctors. Disease as a biographic disruption. Communication processes during disease. Autobiographic and narrative approach to understand disease transitions.
Applying knowledge and understanding
Using abstract concepts within concrete situations.
Individuating problems pertaining specific life span processes and transitions and in particular those of disease.
Proposing effective interventions strategies regarding
1) how psychological processes pertaining developmental transitions work within particular concrete disease conditions;
2) how to communicate bad news
3) How using narrative methods in diseases conditions
4) how to promote development transitions processes during disease conditions
Communicative skills
Using specialistic language to account the course's issues. Being capable of exposing and arguing personal points of view.
Learning skills
Being capable of empirical and theoretical connections: using learned concepts as tools to analyse the reality; using own life experiences as a
source of examples by which making operative learned concepts.
Developing a openness and dialogical attitude among psychological knowledge and that produced from other disciplines
Prerequisites
Knowing basic concepts and paradigms of life span developmental psychology. Basic concepts on development transitions, autobiographical memory and narrative, resiliency, interpersonal communications, coping, autobiographical interview
Teaching Methods
Teaching methods
Knowledge and understanding
Lectures, group discussions on the course's issues
Applying knowledge and understanding
Practices on the courses issues
Making judgements
Group discussion on the courses contents; planning and making personal investigations
Communicative skills
Group discussions; presenting studies and personal works in an oral and written form
Learning skills
To individuate the basic phases of empirical studies presented during the course. To define studying tracks on the course's issues using personal
experiences . To integrate new to old knowledges
Further information
Scientific papers used as texts of the course will be provided buy the teacher.
Those students that cannot attend the course o can do it but only rarely, must sustain a meeting with the teacher in a shared scheduled date
Type of Assessment
Methods to assess learning
Knowledge and understanding
A written multiple choice test on the course's contents. If the test gets a
sufficient evaluation the student has to sustain an oral examination.
Applying knowledge and understanding
In the oral test and during classes the students' presentations and practices are evaluated
Autonomy in making judgements
During oral examination arguing own personal point of view and personal interests regarding possible personal investigations
Communicative skills
During oral examination and classes the students' personal exposition are evaluated in regard to: expository clarity, expository complexity,
capacity of expressing a personal point of view, taking into consideration other possible points of views, respecting scheduled times
Learning skills
During the oral examination: to be aware and to be capable of discussing methodologies used by different Authors and of connecting these to the
concepts learned during the classes; to be able to express personal studying and reasoning processes that are used to process the course's issues.
Course program
Transition in life span development: tasks, resources and challenges. How persons attribute meanings to personal events. Narrative medicine in pediatry. Disease in childhood: the role of relatives, doctors, nurses.
Memory and narratives in illness experiences. The role of narratives in transitions processes. The rare illnesses and death risk illnesses. Communicating during illness situations