Starting from a deep historical description of the birth of the hospital from the hôpital to the hospice Spinanti gives a picture of the development of Medical Humanites in Italy. Spinsanti shows the role which the association Tribunale dei diritti del malato played in the Seventies in shaping the hospital culture. In that period the rights of patients became an important topic in political debate. In order to create a more human hospital Spinanti proposes to integrate three different kinds of models: the managed-care hospital; the science-based hospital and the welfare state-hospital.

Sandro Spinsanti, in "SALUTE E SOCIETÀ" 3/2007, pp. 17-30, DOI: