The relation between paediatrician and families in the ambit of genetic-metabolic pathologies: a research-intervention in hospital context

The care of genetic-metabolic pathologies in paediatrics, for its characteristic of chronicity, of the possible unfavourable results, of the swinging events, of the check between diagnosis and possible therapy require that the doctors have an high psychic stamina toward the involved emotional dimension. In an ampler project of research-intervention this paper present the biennial work of a team of paediatrics, co-conducted by the writers, instituted to support the diagnostic process, that used the narration of critical experiences as object of reflection and elaboration of meaning. Some categories emerged: say not say, see not see, between prescription and information, between family and institution, that highlighted the clinical and research double failure that this pathologies prefigure, where the “limit” become the criterion of work and transformation of the operative and emotional categorization of the context.