Saturday 8 November, at around 11.05pm on Rai 3, the program “O Anche no” dedicates a special episode to a central and profoundly human theme: palliative care. On the occasion of the dedicated World Day, the broadcast of social inclusion and fundamental rights will tell what it means to accompany a person in the most fragile phase of illness and at the end of life. It will be a choral story, which will give voice to those who every day, with competence and humanity, work to protect the dignity of people, making the path of the disease more humane. The journey of “O Anche No” will touch on various Italian realities that represent excellence in this field.
We will start from Aviano (Pordenone) with the Via di Natale Associationwhich has been offering free hospitality to cancer patients and their families since 1989. Its president will recount this experience, Professor Silvio Garattinifounder of the Mario Negri Institute. Important testimonies will come from Lombardy. Paola Severini Melograni will present the Holy Family Hospice of Inzago together with the director Carla Dotti, giving the example of the 38 Christian-inspired structures active in Italy.
Among the most significant, that of Mariapia Bonanate. Journalist and caregiver, Bonanate will accompany viewers, with the sensitivity that distinguishes her, in the story of the journey she lived alongside her husband during his illness. Hers will be a key testimony to understand the daily reality of those who take care of a loved one, an experience which, as the program underlines, while profoundly changing one’s life, can open up new and unexpected paths of love and care. His voice joins that of Stefano Massolihusband of Laura Santi, who died in July 2025 after a long battle for the right to self-determination at the end of life.
There is also space for politics and personal reflection with Senator Franco Mirabelli, also suffering from ALSwho will talk about his experience, underlining the urgency of a collective and legislative reflection on the end of life and the right to dignity. As usual, “O Anche No” will use different languages to explore the theme. Cinema will offer a new look at human frailty thanks to Valerio Mastandrea: the actor and director will present his film “Nonostante”, a journey between autobiography and universal story. In the end, Don Mario Bitchspiritual assistant in the Palliative Care Network of ASL 4 of Chiavari, will remember the importance of spiritual care in the end-of-life process. The episode will pay homage to Cicely Saunders, a doctor and nurse who founded the first modern hospice in 1967, whose message remains a beacon: not just treating the disease, but “taking care of the person as a whole”.
“Or Even Not” is a format by Paola Severini Melograniwritten with Eugenio Giannetta, Valeria Zanatta and Giulia Sarlo, directed by Gabriele Mammarella. All episodes are available on Raiplay.
