Our researcher Mafalda Portugal, from the Investigação Centrada na Pessoa lab a Fellowship in the Support of Research during the 39th Encontro Nacional de Medicina Geral e Familiar in Aveiro during April 1st 2022.
This prize comes from a partnership between Associação Portuguesa de Medicina Geral e Familiar (APMGF) and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (AICIB) and was given to the study “Auxiliares de decisão nos Cuidados de Saúde Primários: estudo qualitativo", which aims to characterize the perceptions and needs of health professionals regarding decision aids, as well as explore the relevant clinical issues that lack these resources.
What is the main innovation of this work and why is it important?
Decision aids are shared decision support tools, developed in Anglo-Saxon countries, that improve the quality of decisions, reduce conflict and promote an active role for users in health decisions. Their existence in Portugal, translated and adapted to the Portuguese population, may be an asset, and it is interesting to understand with those who may use them how they perceive their usefulness.
What questions does this work raise and what will you investigate next?
It is necessary to understand whether these resources are feasible in Portuguese Primary Health Care, exploring the interest of health professionals and their need in clinical practice. Discussion groups will be held that will involve intern doctors and specialists in General and Family Medicine, as well as Primary Health Care Nurses.
What does this award mean to you and the group?
This award is a first recognition of the relevance of the topic in the practice of General and Family Medicine, with the monetary value and mentoring given to the project important support to carry out the work.
What might this award change in your research? What new doors can open?
This award reinforces the financial viability and, through mentoring, enriches the study's design and its quality. Noting an interest in decision aids, this work could be a starting point for their use in Portugal, either through the translation of existing decision aids into other languages, adapting them to the Portuguese population, or through the creation of these root instruments.