The role of UNASAM - National Union of Associations for Mental Health in Italy.

This paper, after an introduction on the origin, development and principal aims of the National Union of Associations for Mental Health (UNASAM), briefly describes what happened in the last 30 years in the field of mental health in Italy. This period covers roughly the lifespan of the Italian Law 180, from the beginnings, the closure of psychiatric hospitals, to the difficulties of present days. The second part of the paper is a summary of a study commissioned to UNASAM by Istituto Superiore di Sanità and conducted in collaboration with the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri" of Milan. This research was aimed at evaluating the quality of mental health services in four Italian Regions. Members of patients' families participated with enthusiasm, filling up a questionnaire and engaging in fieldwork, which required more than 3000 working hours and produced significant and useful results.