OpG Completes Training Courses in Rehabilitation and Vocational Programs

Yesterday marked the conclusion of training courses at the Ghisiola psychiatric hospital with a celebratory event.

Attending the ceremony were the director of the OPG, Michele Schiavon, the head of the rehabilitative department, Antonino Calogero, and the director of the school, Gabriele Martignoni.

Among the audience were the patients who participated in the courses and many of their family members. The initiative was born from a collaboration with Enaip of Mantova, with recognition and funding from the Regione Lombardia and approval from the Province.

Course activities and content

The courses, comprising 600 hours annually for 12 users, took place within the professional sectors of computer science, tailoring, carpentry, and restoration.

Part of the hours was allocated to transversal themes such as drawing, general culture, and poetry.

During the end-of-year celebration, the patients themselves provided a positive evaluation of the experience in the presence of family members, management, and many OPG operators and staff from other health sectors.

Visits and gifts of the artifacts

Visitors had the opportunity to access the workshops, view the ongoing craftsmanship, and during the refreshment, receive free copies of the patients’ editorial products, which include a collection of poetry and illustrations of Dante’s Purgatory.

Yesterday’s event once again highlighted the validity of the rehabilitation model adopted by the OPG in recent years, which is structured across multiple intervention sectors.

There are several hubs: the pedagogical-expressive one, the psychomotor re-education hub, and the vocational training sector.

Intervention system and associations

Among an average population of 200 patients, 10% are involved in vocational training, 18% in pedagogical-expressive activities, and 25% in psychomotor activities.

The remaining patients, except for a group with severe psychiatric disabilities, participate in ergotherapy activities within the facility.

Around the expressive hub, the Alce in Rosso association was founded in 2000 to manage the artistic heritage within the OPG.

The vocational training sector, strongly characterized by the OPG-Enaip agreement, has been utilizing volunteers since 2001.