CHRC researchers awarded at the 1st International Nursing Conferences

Vânia Martins and Ana Dias, PhD Students in Sciences and Technologies of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Évora and CHRC researchers, were awarded at the 1st International Nursing Conferences: "Convergent Paths: nursing and the integration of care”, held in the city of Évora on November 21st and 22nd, 2024.

Vânia Martins was awarded for her oral communication entitled HOME-ENGAGE: Caring at Home, Integrating in the Community – The Construction of a Home Hospitalization Model in Psychiatry. The study under the guidance of Lara Guedes de Pinho and Manuel Lopes, professors at the Escola Superior de Enfermagem São João de Deus, at the University of Évora and from CHRC, aims to build an innovative model of Home Hospitalization in Psychiatry. This model will be adapted to the needs of people with acute mental illness in Portugal, using a participatory approach that actively involves stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, patients, carers and community support institutions. The initiative seeks to promote integration between home care and community services, reducing traditional hospitalization and expanding the reach of mental health support.

This research project is co-financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), through the European Social Fund (FSE), within the scope of the Research Grants for PhD Degrees in a Non-Academic Environment program. The work plan has the University of Évora as the academic host institution and the Almada-Seixal Local Health Unit as the non-academic host institution. The coordination between these institutions aims to ensure the practical and scientific relevance of the study, in addition to promoting innovations in the mental health care model in the portuguese context.

At the same event, Ana Dias, professor at the Department of Nursing at the University of Évora, CHRC researcher and PhD student in Sciences and Technologies of Health and Wellbeing, was awarded for the poster entitled "Efficacy of interventions in prevention of the use of psychoactive substances in higher education students".

In her thesis, supervised by Margarida Goes, Ermelinda Caldeira and Manuel Lopes, professors at the Nursing School of São João de Deus of University of Évora, the student reveals that “recent studies have shown that strategies based on resilience and the prevention of multiple risky behaviors may be particularly effective in educational contexts.” To this end, it concludes that “an effective understanding of substance use prevention strategies can enable nurses to play an active role in educating and supporting adolescents and young adults, both in school and clinical contexts.