In progress

Progetto PRIN 2022 PNRR – DIgital preservation, LInguistic analysis and valorization of historical archive of the former psychiatric hospital of GirifalcO (DILIGO)

As part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan – Mission 4 – Component 2 – Investment 1.1, Fund for the National Research Programme and Projects of Relevant National Interest (PRIN), funded within the Next Generation EU Programme (NGEU), with DD n. 1371 – 01/09/2023 (ERC Sector SH4 “The Human Mind and Its Complexity”), the CNR coordinates the project “DIgital preservation, LInguistic analysis and valorization of historical archive of the former psychiatric hospital of GirifalcO (DILIGO)”.

Project partners are the University of Naples “Federico II” and the University of Foggia.

The project’s main objective is to recover and enhance access to the medical records (CC) of the former psychiatric hospital of Girifalco (CZ) through processes of digitization, transcription, annotation, and linguistic analysis to investigate cultural, political, social, and sociolinguistic aspects of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The specific objectives of the project are:

• Digitization of over 3000 medical records (CC) between the years 1932 and 1944.
• Transcription and annotation of the CC between 1894 and 1943.
• Exploration of metalanguage, “logonyms” (word for words), and, more generally, the vocabulary used by healthcare professionals to describe patients’ speech patterns, report their words, describe the stages of the disease, compile diagnoses, and record treatments. Information is extracted from the nosology and the CC sections “language and writing” and “expressive attitudes.” The CC section on “psycho-sociological functions” is explored to analyze the vocabulary denoting the patient’s state of mind.
• Exploring the metalanguage and lexicon of illness and treatment during the First World War (1914-1918).
• Exploring the metalanguage and lexicon of illness and treatment during Mussolini’s dictatorship (1922-1943).
• Organization and participation in events to disseminate the results of medical record analyses and to revitalize their value as sources of information of particular importance from a linguistic, sociological, and medical history perspective.

Girifalco and its neighborhood will be actively involved in this project, as the former psychiatric hospital was deeply connected to its social context. A further objective of the project, with particular impact on the local community, is to connect the archive with local oral tradition, which still preserves the memory of the life stories and illnesses that the psychiatric hospital shares with us through the analysis of its medical records.

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LOINC ITALIA

Period: 2014 – present

• LOINC is a universal system of codes and names for the exchange and sharing of clinical and laboratory data.
• Memorandum of understanding between Regenstrief Institute and IIT-CNR (2014) recognizing IIT as an official Italian partner

Activity:

• Since 2010, IIT has been responsible for the creation of the Italian version of the standard and the accompanying material for its use.
• Training
• Helpdesk online

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ALPHA / LOVE

Digitization of the historical archives of Calabrian mental hospitals

Since 2014, the Institute of Informatics and Telematics in Rende has been engaged in archival description and digitization of historical documents. In collaboration with the Ministry of Culture – General Directorate of Archives and the Archival and Bibliographic Superintendence of Calabria, the IIT in Rende is actively participating in the recovery of the precious historical and archival heritage of Calabria’s former psychiatric hospitals. These joint efforts between institutions demonstrate the importance of preserving and enhancing Calabria’s historical and cultural heritage through the digitization and preservation of archives that tell the stories of individuals and communities from the past.

The ALPHA and D’AMORE Projects

As part of the “D’AMORE” and “ALPHA” projects, it was possible to first recover and digitize a significant portion of the historical archives of the Girifalco Asylum and then the Reggio Calabria archives. The digitization of the latter’s registers and medical records of patients transferred from the Girifalco Asylum to the Reggio Calabria Asylum is currently underway. From the Girifalco Asylum, 5,500 medical records (1881-1931) have been digitized, out of a total of 18,000 (1881-1978), and 550 of these have been transcribed.

This operation was of fundamental importance to preserve the historical memory and make the documents and data of hospitalised patients accessible.

• “Cards to Be Tied” Portal

The data collected from the first 550 medical records of the Girifalco Asylum, dating between 1881 and 1923, were subsequently made available on the “Carte da Legare” portal, facilitating online access to this precious heritage for scholars and the interested public. Data from the Reggio Calabria Asylum is currently being entered. For further information: www.cartedalegare.san.beniculturali.it.

• Conservation and Cleaning of Medical Records

After their recovery, the medical records from the former psychiatric hospital in Reggio Calabria underwent a meticulous cleaning and disinfection process inside a nitrogen tent. This system, which operates in the absence of oxygen, was used to eliminate any parasites that might infest the paper.

• Recovered Historical Treasures

Among the recovered materials, documents of particular historical interest stand out. These include the medical records of Giuseppe Musolino, known as “Brigante Musolino,” who was interned in the Reggio Calabria mental hospital in 1946, where he died 10 years later. Also, the medical records of Angela R., a 38-year-old woman from Nicastro, who exhibited all the typical symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease as early as 1904, three years before the disease was scientifically described, as evidenced by her medical records held at the Girifalco psychiatric hospital.

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CARDS TO BIND

PAPERS TO BE BOUND – RECOVERY OF MEDICAL RECORDS FROM FORMER PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS

Goals:

• Recover the medical records of the former psychiatric hospital in Reggio Calabria through cleaning and disinfection using a system that, in the absence of oxygen, is capable of eliminating any pests regardless of their life cycle status;
• Carry out the archival cataloguing of the first 550 medical records of the former psychiatric hospital of Girifalco (CZ);
• Verify the compatibility of the data collection tools used in the CNR “Alpha” project and those required to populate the “Carte da Legare” project database www.cartedalegare.san.beniculturali.it
• Populate the Carte da legare portal with data from the first 550 medical records from the former psychiatric hospital of Girifalco (CZ)
  relating to the period 1881-1894.

Why:

To share data as part of the “Carte da Legare” project coordinated by the General Directorate of Archives.

Come:

Collection and analysis of existing socio-economic and health data from medical records and their cataloguing in the “Carte da legare” portal, as per expression of interest (note no. SA-CCA 1496 of 22.04.2016).

Through 2 phases:

Recovery and transfer of the archival heritage of the former psychiatric hospital of Reggio Calabria to the premises of the IIT CNR, Cosenza office;