{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]],"date-time":"2026-01-05T14:10:30Z","timestamp":1767622230763,"version":"3.48.0"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]],"date-time":"2026-01-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767571200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JPM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Psychological services within hospitals are essential to delivering integrated, patient-centred care, yet in many health systems they remain fragmented, variably organised, or confined to specific medical specialties. The Clinical Psychology Unit of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Istituto di Ricerca e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), represents one of the few examples of a hospital-wide psychological governance model in Italy, but its organisational structure and longitudinal activity have not previously been systematically described. Objective: This study (I) describes the organisational design and operational components of the Gemelli Unit; (II) compares it with international organisational models using a typological framework; and (III) examines its resilience and adaptive capacity during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: A descriptive\u2013narrative approach was adopted, integrating institutional documentation, routinely collected service data (2019\u20132024), anonymised case vignettes, and a structured comparison with national and international psychological care structures. The analysis was informed by theoretical models of integrated health-care delivery and by Donabedian\u2019s structure\u2013process\u2013outcome framework. Results: Between 2019 and 2024, psychological interventions increased from 28,878 to 47,076 (+63%), with a post-pandemic average of 41,868 annual interventions. In 2024, the Unit supported 2150 patients and 340 healthcare professionals, with psycho-oncology accounting for approximately one-third of all activities. The model integrates clinical activity, staff support, conflict management, research, and training under a centralised governance structure, ensuring hospital-wide coverage and coordinated referral pathways. The comparative analysis identified four international organisational types\u2014department-based, liaison\/specialty-based, structured health-system, and academic\u2013clinical hybrid\u2014highlighting the hybrid and transversal nature of the Gemelli Unit and its capacity to maintain and adapt services during the COVID-19 emergency. Conclusions: The Gemelli Unit represents a distinctive hospital-wide organisational model that combines centralised governance, transversal deployment, personalised care, and structured support for healthcare professionals. These characteristics position it as a potentially transferable benchmark for health systems seeking to integrate psychological care into core organisational and clinical processes. Future work should prioritise the development of standardised outcome indicators and national frameworks to support the evaluation and harmonisation of hospital-based psychological services.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jpm16010030","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]],"date-time":"2026-01-05T10:53:50Z","timestamp":1767610430000},"page":"30","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Personalised Psychological Care in Hospitals: An Organisational Model of Integrated, Patient- and Staff-Centred Services (2019\u20132024)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0130-6584","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniela Pia Rosaria","family":"Chieffo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Psychology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Complex Operational Unit of Child Neuropsychiatry, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department Women Children and Public Health, Universit\u00e0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8222-4961","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Valentina","family":"Massaroni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Science and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 20123 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0592-2747","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Valentina","family":"Delle Donne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Psychology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1542-7627","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Letizia","family":"Lafuenti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Psychology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Monti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Psychology Unit, Ospedale Isola Tiberina\u2013Gemelli Isola, 00186 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Valentina","family":"Arcangeli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Psychology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Federica","family":"Moriconi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Psychology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daniele","family":"Ferrarese","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Psychology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-6265-4851","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roberta","family":"Galluzzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Human Resources and Organization, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9851-5365","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eugenio Maria","family":"Mercuri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Complex Operational Unit of Child Neuropsychiatry, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department Women Children and Public Health, Universit\u00e0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gabriele","family":"Sani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Complex Operational Unit of Clinical and Emergency Psychiatry, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, Universit\u00e0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giampaolo","family":"Tortora","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Complex Operative Unit of Medical Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6230-1779","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Gasbarrini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Scientific Directorate, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"100554","article-title":"Clinical health psychology in healthcare: Psychology\u2019s contributions to the medical team","volume":"29","author":"Bogucki","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. 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