Person-Centered Research Group

We are mostly interested on how to centre healthcare on people.

We focus in three areas. First is understanding health and illness experiences and the doctor-patient relationship. The second is on how to provide better care for common health problems presenting in primary healthcare. The third is on health policies regarding the organization of care, management and training of healthcare professionals.

We perform systematic and scoping reviews to synthesize the current best evidence on our topics of interest. We also use a wide range of quantitative research designs (cluster-randomized trials, interrupted time-series, observational studies) and qualitative studies (grounded theory, phenomenological studies and case studies).

Projects

PRICOV-19 Study: A multi-country study on quality of care and patient safety in primary care in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Ongoing). Led by the University of Ghent and with collaborators from 37 countries. Funded by the European General Practice Research Network e pela European Society for Quality and Safety in Family Practice
PrimaryCare@COVID-19:Digital Platform for Supporting Chronic Patients and COVID-19 consultations and Monitoring in Primary Care. (2020) In collaboration with Global Health and Tropical Medicine Unit - Funded by FCT Research4COVID-19 Grant 228_596870812)

Highlighted Publications

Publications

Marques P, Nunes M, Antunes M da L, Heleno B, Dias S. Factors associated with cervical cancer screening participation among migrant women in Europe: a scoping review. Int J Equity Health. 2020 Sep 11;19(1):160.

Malmqvist J, Siersma V, Thorsen H, Heleno B, Rasmussen JF, Brodersen J. Did psychosocial status, sociodemographics and smoking status affect non-attendance in control participants in the Danish Lung Cancer Screening Trial? A nested observational study. BMJ Open. 2020 Feb;10(2):e030871.

Laranjo L, Ding D, Heleno B, Kocaballi B, Quiroz JC, Tong HL, et al. Do smartphone applications and activity trackers increase physical activity in adults? Systematic review, meta-analysis and metaregression. Br J Sports Med. 2020 Dec 21;bjsports-2020-102892.

Brodersen J, Voss T, Martiny F, Siersma V, Barratt A, Heleno B. Overdiagnosis of lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography screening: meta-analysis of the randomised clinical trials. Breathe (Sheff). 2020 Mar;16(1):200013.

Baptista S, Heleno B, Pinto M, Guimarães B, China D, Ramos JP, et al. Translation and cultural adaptation of a prostate cancer screening decision aid: a qualitative study in Portugal. BMJ Open. 2020 Mar 1;10(3):e034384.

Baptista S, Heleno B, Teixeira A, Taylor KL, Martins C. Comparison of explicit values clarification method (VCM), implicit VCM and no VCM decision aids for men considering prostate cancer screening: protocol of a randomized trial. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making. 2020 Apr 29;20(1):78.

Viegas Dias C, Maria AR, Dias AC, Heleno B. Evidence‐based brunch to practise literature appraisal skills. Med Educ [Internet]. 2019 Mar 15 [cited 2019 Mar 19]; Available from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/medu.13855

Silvério Rodrigues D, Sousa PF, Basílio N, Antunes A, Antunes M da L, Santos MI, Heleno B. Primary care physicians’ decision-making processes in the context of multimorbidity: protocol of a systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative research. BMJ Open. 2019 Apr;9(4):e023832.

Baptista S, Heleno B, Pinto M, Teixeira A, Taylor KL, Martins C. Translation and cultural adaptation of the web and printed versions of a decision aid to support men’s prostate cancer screening choice: a protocol. BMJ Open. 2019 Oct;9(10):e028938.

Pinto D, Silva A, Heleno B, Rodrigues DS, Santos I, Caetano PA. Effect of European Medicines Agency’s restrictions on trimetazidine utilization in Portugal. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2018 Jul 10;

Pinto D, Silva A, Heleno B, Rodrigues DS, Santos I, Caetano PA. Effect of European Medicines Agency’s regulatory measures on nimesulide utilization in Portugal. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf [Internet]. 2018 Mar 30 [cited 2018 Apr 1]; Available from: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/pds.4424;

Pinto D, Heleno B, Rodrigues DS, Papoila AL, Santos I, Caetano PA. Effectiveness of educational outreach visits compared with usual guideline dissemination to improve family physician prescribing-an 18-month open cluster-randomized trial. Implement Sci. 2018 05;13(1):120.

Heleno B, Siersma V, Brodersen J. Estimation of Overdiagnosis of Lung Cancer in Low-Dose Computed Tomography Screening. JAMA Intern Med. 2018 Aug 13;

Baptista S, Teles Sampaio E, Heleno B, Azevedo LF, Martins C. Web-Based Versus Usual Care and Other Formats of Decision Aids to Support Prostate Cancer Screening Decisions: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Med Internet Res. 2018 Jun 26;20(6):e228.

Heleno B, Siersma VD, Brodersen J. Diagnostic invasiveness and psychosocial consequences of false-positive mammography. Ann Fam Med. 2015 May;13(3):242-9. doi: 10.1370/afm.1762.

Pinto D, Heleno B, Rodrigues DS, Papoila AL, Santos I, Caetano PA. An open cluster-randomized, 18-month trial to compare the effectiveness of educational outreach visits with usual guideline dissemination to improve family physician prescribing. Implement Sci. 2014 Jan 15;9