My aim in these notes is to bring my own experience in the field to the debate: after battling for twenty years as a psychiatrist to dismantle the mental hospitals, and then ten more years to build alternatives to them, I have spent the last ten years managing local health units: three years in the province of Caserta and now in the Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. I’d like to offer you some reflections from this viewpoint, on the basis of the kind of problems I meet every day in my work. In the regional law of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the non-self-sufficiency fund is known as a «Fund for possible autonomy». Just a matter of terminology? Perhaps. only subscribers can see the full article

I’ll try and explain what has been done in the last twelve years in Tuscany and Pisa. After reflecting on the question for several years, we were convinced of the importance of making the local administrations fully responsible for the problems of wellbeing and health. The starting-point was the integration between the social and health sectors. Some general considerations on these subjects, now generally known, which led the Municipalities to start this debate, may help us understand the various phases.only subscribers can see the full article

This contribution analyses the present state of social regionalism in Italy through the financial dimension, following the profound changes that have overtaken the territorial organisation of responsibilities and functions. What emerges is a picture with a series of persistent features, rooted in certain historical factors that have accompanied the role of the Regions in social policies, but also some signs of change that indicate a desire on the part of the Regions to take the centre of the stage. The combination of these two elements offers possibile opportunities, but also risks that may be connected to the current territorial weighting of social policies towards the Regions.only subscribers can see the full article