Both the President of the Nursing School of Coimbra (ESEnfC), professor Maria da Conceição Bento, and the Director of the Health Centre Norton de Matos, Dra. Conceição Milheiro, consider that a “vision of partnership” is very important in terms of health issues, namely mental health-related issues.
On February 19th, they both delivered their opinion in the opening session of the Forum Desvendar: Estigma, Associativismo e Empowerment (Forum Unravelling: Stigma, Associativism and Empowerment) organised by a group of nurses attending the 1st Post-Licentiate Specialisation Course in Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing (CPLEESMP) at the ESEnfC, with the collaboration of the Health Centre Norton de Matos.
According to professor Maria da Conceição Bento, the project which is on the basis of this forum – Projecto Desvendar – Domínio Cuidados Continuados e Reabilitação Psicossocial (Project Unravelling – Continuous Care and Psychosocial Rehabilitation Area) – “has been exemplary” due to the capacity of the partner institutions and professionals to create changes in order to guarantee more health for citizens, which is particularly important in a time of financial crisis and requires the permanent availability of all technicians. Also according to the President of the ESEnfC, the partnerships between health and training institutions are currently different: instead of taking into account each other’s interest, they are seen as way to articulate training, innovation and research.
The Director of the Health Centre Norton de Matos, Dra. Conceição Milheiro, congratulated the ESEnfC for the project, mentioning that “all our work has to be population-based” and underlined “the added value that being in contact with real people represents”. This also allows health professionals to “rehabilitate themselves as technicians”.
The Forum Unravelling: Stigma, Associativism and Empowerment aimed at the sharing of experiences for a decrease of the stigma associated to mental illness, as well as the empowerment of the population affected by this health problem and the respective family members.
The forum was subdivided into two panels: one on “Stigma and Empowerment” and another one on “Experiences of Change”. The first panel had the participation of teachers Luís Loureiro and Luísa Brito (mental health experts) from the ESEnfC. In the second panel, representatives from the following institutions working in the area of mental illness and patient were invited to talk about their field experiences: Vime – Viver melhor, IPSS; Associação de Desenvolvimento e Formação Profissional, DAR VOZ, Associação de Reabilitação Social e Institucionalização de Doentes Psiquiátricos, Associação de Apoio aos Doentes Depressivos e Bipolares e UPA (Movimento Unidos Para Ajudar).
The Forum took place in the Auditorium of the ESEnfC – Campus A. In the opening session the following were also present: the coordinator of the 1st CPLEESMP, Professor Aida Mendes, the chief nurse of the Health Centre Fernão de Magalhães, Fátima Cravo, the supervisor nurse of the Psychiatric Hospital Centre of Coimbra, Carlos Bem-Haja, and nurse Dilma, from the Health House Rainha Santa Isabel (Condeixa).
