Insurance, police and psychologists together to support the victims of road accidents and their families. This is the objective of Ania Cares, the psychological assistance project created by the will of the Ania Foundation and presented this morning in Rome.
After a test phase conducted over the last 12 months, the initiative starts today and will last for three years: thanks to the advice of expert psychologists, the first world protocol for the treatment of psychological trauma due to road accidents has been drawn up; now we move on to experimentation on some cases, which will become a few hundreds when the project is fully operational. At the moment, intervention is possible in about ten cases, which can be reported on 06 32 68 85 93. In the coming months, a toll-free number will be available connected to a nationwide network of psychologists who will be available 24 hours a day. .
"We want to play a significant role in social cohesion - said Aldo Minucci, president of the National Association of Insurance Companies - and to achieve this we know that we must be humble, which is why we have turned to those who have the right skills", i.e. the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Rome La Sapienza and the Traffic Police, who have collaborated with the Ania Foundation to carry out the project.
"Italy does not have a tradition of attention to the victims - admitted Roberto Sgalla, director of the Specialties of the State Police - now we want to give our operators the ability not only to make the findings, but also to manage the emotions of the victims ”. A sensitivity that is lacking today in many cases, as Stefano Guarnieri, founder of the Lorenzo Guarnieri Association testifies: “When they killed my son, who was 17 – he said -, there was an asymmetry. In my time of need, I was surrounded by inattention: the role of those who remain does not exist for the judiciary, insurance companies or law enforcement agencies. I hope this project will lead operators to change their point of view".
What Guarnieri described is a process of “secondary victimization – explained Annamaria Giannini, professor of Psychology and scientific coordinator of the project – which occurs when, in addition to suffering the trauma of the accident, the victim is left to fend for herself. In these cases pathological consequences such as post-traumatic disorders and depressive disorders are much more likely to develop.
To prevent this from happening, Ania Cares provides for the training of all those professionals who, for various reasons, have contact with the victims of road accidents and with their families: from the police forces to coroners, via insurance liquidators , with a view to an integrated but also differentiated approach according to the moments of contact with the victims.
According to psychotherapist Roger Solomon, White House consultant and collaborator on the new Italian project, “the concept here, to use a metaphor, is to give a hot broth, not psychotherapy. That comes later."
