Health vulnerabilities: the diagnosis of freshmen from a portuguese university

The start of university is presented as a crucial stage in the life of the student. If, on the one hand, it is a period of increased autonomy and freedom, on the other, it is a period that also increases the sense of responsibility and self discipline. In this study, based on a quantitative approach, we identified the main risk situations experienced by freshmen at the University of Evora, by applying a questionnaire developed for this purpose and the Beck inventory. Key findings are highlighted, such as the consumption of harmful substances (tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs), whose values exceed the average population. The consumption of alcoholic beverages begins early and is continuous and excessive. Also, the presence of symptoms compatible with dysphoria and depression is noted in about 9% of students. Self-medication practices were found in 58.7% of the freshmen. Our findings reveal the need for preventive intervention by health professionals, due to these young people’s great exposure to health risks.

Social representations of nursing students about hospital assistance and primary health care

Objective: To analyze how social representations of hospital and community care are structured in two groups of nursing students – 1st and 4th years. Method: Qualitative research oriented by the Theory of Social Representations. We used a questionnaire with Free Association of Words. Data were analyzed in the Software IRaMuTeQ 0.6 alpha 3. Results: We applied the method of Descending Hierarchical Classifi cation and obtained four classes. Class 4 has the largest social representation (30.41%) within the corpus. The two organizational axes are nurse and disease/patient in the central core. On the periphery are the care and help related to the nurse and the treatment and prevention associated with the disease. Conclusion: Social representations focus on disease/patient and on the role of nurses in the treatment, prevention, and care. Health promotion and the social determinants of health are absent from the social representations of students.

Referenciais para a construção do processo de enfermagem na consulta de saúde mental e psiquiatria na infância e adolescência: o processo de implementação

É na infância e adolescência que se cria a individualidade de cada ser humano, adquirem-se normas e valores dos contextos que se está inserido. Na relação com estes contextos surgem formas individuais de pensar e reagir. O enfermeiro especialista em enfermagem de saúde mental surge como elemento que ajuda os utentes na sua relação com os seus contextos internos e externos na promoção da saúde, prevenção de riscos, prestando cuidados de âmbito psicoterapêutico, socioterapêutico, psicossocial e psicoeducacional. O presente relatório descreve o processo de implementação de referenciais para a consulta de enfermagem de saúde mental infantil e juvenil. Divide-se na fase de planeamento e na fase de implementação. Na avaliação e intervenção há a necessidade de adaptação à pessoa e seu nível de desenvolvimento das estratégias usadas. Revelaram-se eficazes as estratégias de ludoterapia, musicoterapia, filmeterapia, mediadores de expressão na gestão da relação da criança e adolescente consigo e com o que o rodeia, havendo ganhos quer a nível da satisfação dos utentes e familiares, adaptação, bem-estar e autocuidado, prevenção de complicações e promoção da saúde; ABSTRACT: BENCHMARKS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NURSING PROCESS IN MENTAL HEALTH CONSULTATION AND PSYCHIATRY IN CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE - THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS The individuality of each human being is created during childhood and adolescence. Norms and values of the context where each one is inserted are acquired. Individual thinking and reacting ways rise, relating to this context. The mental health nursing specialist is one element that helps users in their internal and external contexts relationship, regarding to health promotion and risk prevention with psycho therapeutic, social therapeutic, psychosocial and psychoeducational care providing. This report describes how to insert references to the children and adolescent mental health nursing consultation. It is divided in planning and implementation phases. During assessment and intervention, there is the need to adapt these strategies to each person and their level of development. Ludo therapy, music therapy, movie therapy, expression mediators, showed efficacy in children and adolescent management relationship with themselves and their surroundings, with gains both in terms of user and family satisfaction, adaptation, welfare, self-care, complications prevention and health promotion.

VALIDATION STUDY OF HEALTH BELIEFS SCALE

Introduction: The Health Belief Scale is a questionnaire used to assess a wide range of beliefs related to health. The objective of this study was to undertake construction and culturally adapt the Health Belief Scale (HBS) to the Portuguese language and to test its reliability and validity. Methods: This new version was obtained with forward/backward translations, consensus panels and a pre-test, having been inspired by some of the items from “Canada’s Health Promotion Survey” and the “European Health and Behaviour Survey”, with the inclusion of new items about food-related beliefs. The Portuguese version of Health Belief Scale and a form for the characteristics of the participants were applied to 849 Portuguese adolescents. Results: Reliability was good with a Cronbach’s alpha coeficient of 0.867, and an intraclass correlation coeficient (ICC) of 0.95. Corrected item-total coeficients ranged from 0.301 to 0.620 and weighted kappa coeficients ranged from 0.72 to 0.93 for the total scale items. We obtained a scale composed of 13 items divided into ive factors (smoking and alcohol belief, food belief, sexual belief, physical and sporting belief, and social belief), which explain 57.97% of the total variance. Conclusions: The scale exhibited suitable psychometric properties, in terms of internal consistency, reproducibility and construct validity. It can be used in various areas of research.

Social representations about the Portuguese adolescent alcohol consumption

Alcohol is currently the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world and Portugal is the second country where such consumption is greater, registering a large increase in consumption by young people. Currently continue still, beliefs, myths and prejudices that because they are well rooted culturally serve as good reasons for drinking. This study sought therefore to identify the myths associated by adolescents to alcohol consumption. A questionnaire was developed for this purpose (74 items, α = 0.947) and applied to a sample of 1176 adolescents schooled between 14 and 18 years old, with a return rate of 42.6% (margin of error of 5% for a confidence level of 95%) in the district of Beja, Portugal, in 2012. The collected data were statistically analyzed using measures of association, factor analysis and linear regression. The results show that many myths are unknown among adolescents, verifying the presence of many questions, among which stands out: alcohol "warm", "thirst quenching", "gives strength", "facilitates digestion" "whet the appetite", "is a medicine", "is aphrodisiac", "facilitates social relations", among others. Age and sex are variables significantly affected the myths and objectives of alcohol consumption. These results clearly point to the need to be disassembled beliefs and wrong conceptions about the effects of alcohol consumption, particularly in the school environment, reducing the risk of the consequences and promoting adolescent health, preventing any future dependence on this psychoactive substance.