[Participation, sharing, communication: a compatence based on culture not on professional skills]

The increasing emphasis on the importance of a more direct and active role of citizen and patients not only in the processes of care, but more broadly in the definition of goals and in the formulation of health choices, can be considered one of the most interesting trends in medicine and society. There is also a consensus on the need that nurses should have a protagonist role in this scenario. The hypothesis which has guided the selection and the development of the topics of this dossier is specifically discussed in the Editorial: the quality and the yield of participation do not depend on "another" skill which could be thaught, but on the openess-readiness of the health care personnel to a lay listening, understanding, sharing of the background culture, voices, needs of the cultural contexts and of the variability of individuals and of poprilations. The different contributions have two complementary objectives: a) to outline what could be the overall philosophy and the main components of a culture of a non directive communication, b) to document with model cases how broad and stimulating on one side is the challenge, and on the other the richness of opportunities. Along the varions contributions it is stressed that: This is an area at risk of being dominated by conceptualizations and declarations of intents, while its credibility and contribution are strictly dependent on the robustness of experiences; Nurses must consider this area as a specifically important field of research, with strategies and tools which must be tailored to the specificity of the situations where participation-communication are considered a priority.