Project leader

Dr. Giovanni de Girolamo (MD)

Project staff

Dr Giulia Signorini

Psychologist - Research Assistant

Institute presentation

The IRCCS (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico) St. John of God Clinical Research Center, Brescia, Italy, also commonly known as the Fatebenefratelli, meaning "Do-Good Brothers" in Italian, as the Brothers Hospitallers of the Order are called, is a national Centre for Research and Care for Mental Disorders. The Institute has existed for 120 years; in 1996 it was appointed as a Scientific Institute. The Center carries out extensive research activities in the field of neuroscience and is funded by the Italian Ministry of Health. It is a leading center in the research and the care of mental and cognitive disorders, and has strong connections with leading academic centers worldwide. With 244 beds for inpatient care and an intense outpatient activity, about 4,500 persons with Alzheimer’s disease or associated disorders and 2,000 with mental disorders are treated yearly. Research is the primary function of the Institute and that is undertaken within several units that contribute to the Institute's research output.

More than 50 full-time researchers work in preclinical and clinical labs and produce a number of papers published in peer reviewed journals (on average 95 publications for year in the last five years with an impact factor of 380 per year). The Institute has a long experience in the coordination of and participation to international multi-centre research projects. Experimental work is closely linked with care and that is why, while staying at the Center, a User may be contacted and invited to participate in a scientific project, of course always subject to informed consent. Research programmes are an essential activity in the field of care because they make it possible to discover new cures and treatments in the interests of the User and, more generally speaking, of the whole community.

The Institute has an active role in teaching at the University of Brescia and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. As a result, research units also provide unique training opportunities for students.

IRCCS project staff is WP leader of WP1

There is a lack of information about the characteristics and functioning of the CAMHS - AMHS interface in all 28 European countries, especially on the nature, quality and outcomes of transition from CAMHS to adult care.

The specific aims of WP1 are:

  1. To collect detailed information on CAMHS and AMHS characteristics and interface at national and regional levels across all EU states, including legal aspects of adolescent care
  2. To identify transition policies and models in different EU healthcare and social settings (including
    paediatric/adult medical care, developmental disabilities, social services and child safeguarding)
  3. To develop a typology that enables services to be categorised according to (a) transition practice (how transition boundaries are defined, such as by age cut-off, diagnostic categories, educational or work status and any other criteria or combination of criteria) and (b) service configuration (presence or absence of specialist liaison workers, adolescent teams, policies for joint working, liaison models etc.)
  4. To identify how decisions about transition are made within each national mental health system, and which professionals are involved in such decisions