This study explored views of mental health services (MHS) professionals regarding positive changes in service practices and organizations, and staff-user relationships after one year of COVID-19 in Italy. Professionals from a community-oriented MHS completed online the Questionnaire on MHS Transformations during the COVID-19 pandemic, a 30-item tool developed by a participatory approach and validated. Of the 184 participants, 91.8% felt it was “true/definitely true” that during the pandemic they had informed users on procedures to reduce contagion risks, and 82.1% stated that they had increased telephone contact with users. Sixty-nine percent of professionals reported that staff revised treatment plans according to new needs of care and 78.6% stated that they had been able to mediate between user needs and safe working procedures. Moreover, 79.4% of respondents stated that they had rediscovered the importance of gestures and habits, and 65% that they had gained strength among colleagues to face fear. Fifty-four percent of participants admitted that they had discovered unexpected personal resources in users. Overall, 59.6% of participants stated that they found some positives in the COVID-19 experience. Perceived positive changes was greater among professionals from community facilities vs. those from hospital and residential facilities. In community-oriented MHS, the pandemic offered an opportunity to change practices and rethink the meaning of relationships between people. This data may be useful in generating a more balanced understanding of COVID-19's impact on MHS and for MHS planning in the pandemic era.

IntroductionThe Italian law 81/2014 has given a strong push to the design of therapeutic-rehabilitative paths for psychiatric patients who are offenders. This innovation requires a constant organizational effort on the part of mental health services to enforce the law. The rehabilitation team is represented by different professionals like psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, psychiatric rehabilitation technicians, educators, social workers and others. They must be able to work in an integrated way among them and with private social sector.ObjectivesIt is in our interest to reach an agreement between different professionals working in the rehabilitation-forensic field about good practices.MethodsWe have prepared a survey to identify good practices in the field of psychosocial rehabilitation of the offender psychiatric patient, involving different professionals who have expertise.ResultsThis audit revealed, in everybody’s opinion, that these offending citizens have received a security measure capable of having greater control over their actions in a therapeutic-rehabilitative perspective but it is fundamental to educate them also to exercise their own safety for a social shared culture. Ensuring the safety of the offender during the therapeutic-rehabilitative path is as important as responding to a society’s need for social security.ConclusionsSatisfying a society’s need for security, established by the Judge and the Law, all this cannot separated from the active exercise of security of the offending psychiatric patient towards himself, through psychoeducation. The safety towards others and towards oneself can constitute a good practice in the field of psychosocial rehabilitation.DisclosureNo significant relationships.