“We are azorean”: discourses and practices of folk culture in Santa Catarina (Brazil)

Etnográfica, Vol. IX, N.1, pp. 171-193

Changing representations and practices in school mathematics: the case of Modern Math in Portugal

The curricular movement known as Modern Mathematics aimed at the transformation of representations and practices in school mathematics. Its study provides us with ways of understanding how these changes came about. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the ways in which representations of school mathematics gradually were influenced by ideas from the Modern Mathematics movement, how these new ideas merged into local educational traditions, and how they were transformed into meaningful practice. This work is centred on the Portuguese context from the middle 1950s to the middle 1960s, and builds on Chervel’s notion of school culture and Gruzinski’s discussion of connected histories.

Vir sapiens dominabitur astris: astrological knowledge and practices in the Portuguese medieval court (king João I to king Afonso V)

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em História Medieval

Knowledge and practices of general practitioners of district Peshawar about schizophrenia

ABSTRACT: Schizophrenia with its disabling features has been placed in the top ten of global burden of disease and is associated with long-term decline in functional ability. General Practitioners not only have an important role in treating patients with an established diagnosis of schizophrenia but they can also contribute significantly by identifying people in early stages of psychosis as they are the first hand medical help available and the duration of untreated psychosis is a good indicator of patient’s prognosis. This cross sectional survey, conducted at the clinics of General Practitioners, was designed to assess the knowledge and practices of general practitioners in Peshawar on diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia. A semi structured questionnaire was used to assess their knowledge and practices regarding schizophrenia. The Knowledge/Practice was then categorized as good or poor based on their responses to the questions of the administered questionnaire. Overall, the results showed that the knowledge and practices of general practitioners of district Peshawar were poor regarding schizophrenia and may be responsible for delayed diagnosis, inadequate treatment and poor prognosis.

Património Cultural Imaterial: MEMORIAMEDIA e-Museu - métodos, técnicas e práticas / Intagible Cultural Heritage: MEMORIAMEDIA e-Museum - methods, techniques and practices

O projeto MEMORIAMEDIA tem como objetivos o estudo, a inventariação e divulgação de manifestações do património cultural imaterial: expressões orais; práticas performativas; celebrações; o saber-fazer de artes e ofícios e as práticas e conhecimentos relacionados com a natureza e o universo. O MEMORIAMEDIA iniciou em 2006, em pleno debate nacional e internacional das questões do património cultural imaterial. Este livro cruza essas discussões teóricas, metodológicas e técnicas com a caracterização do MEMORIAMEDIA. Os resultados do projeto, organizados num inventário nacional, estão publicados no site www.memoriamedia.net, onde se encontram disponíveis para consulta e partilha. Filomena Sousa é investigadora de pós-doutoramento em antropologia (FCSH/UNL) e doutorada em sociologia (ISCTE-IUL). Membro integrado no Instituto de Estudos de Literatura e Tradição - patrimónios, artes e culturas (IELT) da FCSH/UNL e consultora da Memória Imaterial CRL – organização não-governamental autora e gestora do projeto MEMORIAMEDIA. Desenvolve investigação no âmbito das políticas e instrumentos de identificação, documentação e salvaguarda do património cultural imaterial e realizou vários documentários sobre expressões culturais.

Medicinal plants: Past and present uses in several communities from the North-eastern Portugal

XX Symposium of Brazilian Medicinal Plants & X International Congress of Ethnopharmacology. S. Paulo, Brasil.

Environmental pressures and impacts of public sector organizations: the case of the Portuguese Military

Progress in Industrial Ecology, An International Journal, nº 4(5), p. 363-381

Effects of a mental health training program on health care worker's knowledge and attitude and practice in Belize

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to assess mental health knowledge, attitude and practices among health care workers in Belize before and immediately after a competency based training program in mental health. A baseline Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) survey was given to health personnel, mainly nurses, working primary and secondary care. The intervention was a 13-week face-to-face training course for health care professionals with the objective of increasing their competency in mental health and reducing stigma. After the training a post intervention KAP survey was conducted among the original respondents. 88 health care workers completed the baseline survey and 61 of those respondents completed the post-intervention questionnaire. The results showed that the level of knowledge of the participants had improved by the training intervention and that in general, the intervention was effective in correcting some misconceptions about mental illness and reducing stigmatizing attitudes among the participants.

Emotion-oriented interventions for environment and the facilitation of pro-environmental behavior

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Ambiente, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Da assistência aos pobres aos cuidados de saúde primários em Portugal : o papel da enfermagem : 1926-2002

RESUMO - Este estudo analisa a forma como os cuidados de saúde não hospitalares e a enfermagem comunitária, se desenvolveram e se influenciaram mutuamente, no período 1926-2002. Trata-se de um estudo histórico que recorre a fontes escritas, imagéticas e orais, e utiliza conceções do novo institucionalismo e os conceitos de poder e biopoder de Foucault, para investigar este processo. Apresenta e analisa as origens destes cuidados e da enfermagem comunitária, o modo como se institucionalizaram e como evoluíram. A criação e desenvolvimento dos cuidados de saúde não hospitalares foram acompanhados pela individualização da enfermagem comunitária. As políticas e práticas dos cuidados de saúde primários e da enfermagem comunitária apresentam uma clara dependência do percurso já realizado. A sua génese está ligada a práticas de caridade cristã de assistência aos mais pobres liderada pelas Misericórdias e ordens religiosas. O novo entendimento sobre o papel do Estado relativamente à saúde conduziu à criação de instituições não hospitalares e à diferenciação da enfermagem comunitária. Assinale-se como momentos positivos para enfermeiros e instituições a formação das visitadoras sanitárias, apoio à formação em saúde pública pela Fundação Rockefeller, a criação de instituições corporativas, privadas e públicas de cuidados não hospitalares, a reforma de 1971 e o movimento dos CSP. As políticas institucionais condicionaram o próprio desenvolvimento e o da enfermagem comunitária, devido aos estereótipos associados ao papel da mulher, à multiplicidade e disparidade de formações e às visões divergentes sobre o que era a enfermagem comunitária. Este processo de desenvolvimento entretecido entre enfermagem comunitária e CSP apresenta influências e contributos mútuos. Os cuidados de saúde não hospitalares proporcionaram aos enfermeiros formação, desenvolvimento profissional, oportunidade de uma intervenção diversificada e com elevado grau de autonomia. Já estes trouxeram aproximação à comunidade, atenção especial aos mais vulneráveis, criatividade, capacidade de adaptação perante condições adversas, contribuindo para a visibilidade e relevância afetiva dos CSP.

From Strategic Planning to Development Initiatives: a first reflection on the situation of Lisbon and Barcelona

MARQUES, B.P. (2014) From Strategic Planning to Development Initiatives: a first reflection on the situation of Lisbon and Barcelona, in 20th APDR Congress Proceddings, APDR and UÉvora, Évora, pp. 850-857, ISBN 978-989-8780-01-0.

Help-seeking for 'memory loss' by older adults in India : patient, caregiver and health providers' perspectives

ABSTRACT: Background. In India, prevalence rates of dementia and prodromal amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are 3.1% and 4.3% respectively. Most Indians refer to the full spectrum of cognitive disorders simply as ‘memory loss.’ Barring prevention or cure, these conditions will rise rapidly with population aging. Evidence-based policies and practices can improve the lives of affected individuals and their caregivers, but will require timely and sustained uptake. Objectives. Framed by social cognitive theories of health behavior, this study explores the knowledge, attitudes and practices concerning cognitive impairment and related service use by older adults who screen positive for MCI, their primary caregivers, and health providers. Methods. I used the Montreal Cognitive Assessment to screen for cognitive impairment in memory camps in Mumbai. To achieve sampling diversity, I used maximum variation sampling. Ten adults aged 60+ who had no significant functional impairment but screened positive for MCI and their caregivers participated in separate focus groups. Four other such dyads and six doctors/ traditional healers completed in-depth interviews. Data were translated from Hindi or Marathi to English and analyzed in Atlas.ti using Framework Analysis. Findings. Knowledge and awareness of cognitive impairment and available resources were very low. Physicians attributed the condition to disease-induced pathology while lay persons blamed brain malfunction due to normal aging. Main attitudes were that this condition is not a disease, is not serious and/or is not treatable, and that it evokes stigma toward and among impaired persons, their families and providers. Low knowledge and poor attitudes impeded help-seeking. Conclusions. Cognitive disorders of aging will take a heavy toll on private lives and public resources in developing countries. Early detection, accurate diagnosis, systematic monitoring and quality care are needed to compress the period of morbidity and promote quality of life. Key stakeholders provide essential insights into how scientific and indigenous knowledge and sociocultural attitudes affect use and provision of resources.

Lovers and Madmen: The Μανία-Φρονεῖν Opposition in Plato’s Phaedrus

In this thesis we propose to examine the first half of the Phaedrus (sc. until the end of the palinode) in light of the opposition between the notions of μανία and φρονεῖν, as they are explicitly and implicitly presented in the erotic speeches. These are read in dialogue with what we have designated as the “implicit speech” or “speeches”, i.e., the plurality of conceptions regarding ἔρως, μανία and φρονεῖν that were part of Ancient Greek culture. Our reading of the two speeches against ἔρως, Lysias’ and Socrates’ first speech, engages with this cultural background, and extracts a conception of μανία and φρονεῖν with which the palinode will primarily confront. Our reading of the palinode divides it into two sections: the first, the presentation of the first three kinds of beneficial μανία; the second, the mythical narrative that deals with erotic μανία. We emphasise the existence of a wide gulf between these two moments in terms of their ontological, theological and anthropological conceptions. The second section of the palinode is revolutionary not only in contrast with the “implicit speech” and the speeches against ἔρως, but also in contrast with the very beginning of the palinode – which preserves many of the conceptions and assumptions found in the previous speeches and in the cultural tradition. It is in order to explain the foundation, meaning and significance of this gulf that we explore and discuss the notion of ὑπόθεσις and its role as an implicit operator in the Phaedrus. From our reading of the second part of the palinode, it is clear how the introduction of the ὑπερουράνιος τόπος brings about a radical revision of the perspectives on the nature of reality and on human nature and condition that were implicit in the previous speeches and in the first part of the palinode. We show that the ὑπερουράνιος τόπος corresponds to the projection of a multiplicity of cognitive and desiderative requirements that our normal perspective demands, but cannot possibly satisfy. In other words, our perspective is shown to be living beyond its means, yearning for something that by far exceeds what it can get in its de facto condition: the superlative. This results in a major revision of the understanding of φρονεῖν and μανία – a revision that challenges the traditional understanding of these two notions as binary opposites, thereby revealing a much more complex landscape.

Performance management practices in Portugal.

Performance management and assessment has returned to the forefront of the public debate in Portugal, at the same time that some international studies point Portugal as a country with bad management practices, highlighting performance management practices. Despite all this attention, there is little information about how those practices are applied in the country. This research’s goal is to assess why performance management systems and practices are so poorly applied in Portugal. To achieve this goal we studied employees’ perception about the topic and diagnose the associated problems. The methodology comprised inductive and qualitative research, in the form of interviews with employees from different professions, industries, hierarchies, and ages. Our findings suggest that performance management failure is related with a procedural problem with three different dimensions: Insufficient Planning, Process & Integrity Issues, and Non-Meritocratic Logic. By exposing the different components of the Portuguese performance management problem, we shed light into the topic and allow organizations to understand and face their performance management systems’ flaws.