Death and dying: perceptions and attitudes in Italy

Abstract

This research was started in Italy at the end of 1988. Its aim was to identify and describe how people perceive death, and to define its prevalence in the minds of people. Three key issues were studied: (1) the idea of death and the feelings it stirs in people; (2) the cult of the dead; (3) the death—disease relationship. The research was conducted by telephone interviews using a questionnaire comprising 17 multiple-choice questions and one question with an open reply. A thousand people were interviewed from a sample group best representing the Italian population in terms of geographic distribution, area of residence, sex, age, education, and profession. Our research highlighted that Italian culture, whether secular or catholic, is hardly used to thinking about death. The tendency is for Italians to relate death to disease, especially in the case of cancer, and death is therefore something to be shunned and feared. Nevertheless, a new and culturally innovative need is emerging in Italy, where it is felt that patients should be given the responsibility for and the option of choosing not only their own treatment, but also the way in which to live and die. This finding is extremely important because it clearly proves that patients have a growing awareness of their right to self-determination. Nevertheless, society also has the obligation to make sure that patients in the terminal phase of life are not abandoned or merely left to chance.