The Lègami/Legàmi Service—An Experience of Psychological Intervention in Maternal and Child Care during COVID-19

Abstract

This study provides a descriptive analysis of the Lègami/Legàmi service, a free psychological support service in maternal and childcare, offered through the internet and by telephone that was initiated by the Italian Society of Pediatric Psychology (S.I.P.Ped.) during the COVID-19 medical emergency as an act of solidarity, first independently, and then in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Health. This paper presents findings related to the “universe” of people who called the toll-free service, from the sociocultural characteristics of the users to the information collected by the professionals during the psychological pathways until human satisfaction was achieved. We provide a retrospective description of an experience that took place between April and June 2020, and which involved users of the maternal-infant area calling from the whole Italy. (1) Methods: The aims of this study were to investigate the configuration of the indicators identified and to detect the possible correlations between them in the sample. There were 193 users who took advantage of the Service, 160 of whom continued beyond the reception service; it is this group that we report the findings from here. The tool used was a form reporting access to care and interventions, and the resulting data underwent a content analysis and the indicators were subject to non-parametric statistical analysis to analyze differences and relationships. (2) Results: There were many correlations among the indicators that revealed a high prevalence of calls due to personal motivations and requests for support, which later allowed users to gain a greater understanding of the underlying problems they were facing. The professionals running the service noticed a prevalence of weaknesses attributable to the negative emotions of its users, alongside a presence of cognitive and relational resources. The professionals’ interventions, which can be characterized by a prevalence of social support, psychological rehabilitation, and psychoeducation, achieved outcomes of redefining users’ relationships with themselves and others. All of the service’s users have expressed a high level of satisfaction with it. (3) Discussion: Our results revealed the protective and transformative effects of the service for its users and the underlying importance of having an easily accessible psychological support system in place during emergencies, like the recent pandemic. In conditions like these, the great value of a remote support service should be noted, and despite its limitations, assures its own efficacy when a medical emergency precludes closer in-person forms of psychological assistance.