Environmental Health Institute

Financiador

Publicações

Beyond usual geographical scales of analysis: implications for healthcare management and urban planning

Publication . Morais, Liliane; Lopes, António; Rocha, Jorge; Nogueira, Paulo Jorge

In the context of climate emergency, advances in geographic information systems, geocoding, and geomedicine allow us to go beyond the conventional usual scales and be aligned with people’s needs, improving knowledge and accuracy of the spatial pattern of health outcomes. This study shows that the geographical scale of analysis affects the interpretation of health outcomes. Methods: All mortality that occurred in Portugal in 2014–2017 was geocoded. From 435,291 addresses, 412,608 were geocoded with success. As an example, we use the spatial patterns of the elderly’s heat-related cardiorespiratory mortality. Results: It is shown: (i) it is possible to have high quality and accuracy of spatial data used in health outcomes analysis; (ii) how geographic scales reveal different degrees of detail in health outcomes analysis; (iii) the neighbourhood scale revealed different patterns of cardiorespiratory mortality from the usually available scale (parish). Discussion: Our findings suggest the relevance of geocoding health outcomes with a finer scale in tackling the challenges of the healthcare sector, and in support of planning decision-making, closely matching citizens’ needs. Without running the risk of losing potentially major prospects, better healthcare management is achievable, with optimal resource allocation, and improved detailed and informed policymaking, allowing enhanced climate health equity in cities promotion.

2022Artigo científico

Acesso aberto

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Developing healthy eating promotion mass media campaigns: a qualitative study

Publication . Capitão, Carolina; Martins, Raquel; Feteira-Santos, Rodrigo; Virgolino, Ana; Graça, Pedro; Gregório, Maria João; Santos, Osvaldo

Background: Involving consumers in the development and assessment of mass media campaigns has been advocated, though research is still lacking. This study aimed to explore opinions and attitudes of citizens, health professionals, communication professionals, and digital influencers regarding the development and implementation of healthy eating promotion mass media campaigns. Methods: We conducted five semi-structured focus groups, where participants were exposed to the first nationwide mass media campaign promoting healthy eating in Portugal. Through criteria-based purposive sampling, 19 citizens, five health professionals, two communication professionals, and four digital influencers were included. Transcripts were analyzed using Charmaz's line-to-line open coding process. Results: Main identified themes were: considerations about informative-centered campaigns, health/nutritional issues to address, campaign formulation, target audiences, dissemination channels, and influencers' involvement. Participants favored campaigns focused on practical, transformative, and useful information with simple, innovative, activating, and exciting messages instead of strictly informative campaigns. Health and communication professionals mentioned the importance of adapting the message and dissemination channels to the target audience, addressing the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach individuals, and highlighted the importance of short video format. Conclusions: Active involvement of the health promotion target audience is crucial for the development and effectiveness of health campaigns. Campaigns need to convey health messages on simple though exciting communication materials, targeted to the most vulnerable subgroups, including deprived, less educated, younger, and older generations.

2022Artigo científico

Acesso aberto

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Entidade financiadora

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Programa de financiamento

6817 - DCRRNI ID

Número da atribuição

UIDP/04295/2020