FERRAMENTA DE APOIO AOS COMANDANTES DAS OPERAÇÕES DE SOCORRO EM INTERVENÇÕES ESTRUTURAIS DAS EQUIPAS DE BOMBEIROS

In a scenario of structural intervention situation, the On-Scene Commanders (COS) only have at their disposal the data provided by the one who gave the alert, which are insufficient to provide a secure and informed decision-making. Through a quantitative, descriptive, observational, and cross-sectional research, using a questionnaire applied to operational staff who perform the COS function, results a survey of the COS information needs. According to the results, it is concluded that the purpose of knowing the risks and outlining a more effective, faster and safer combat strategy for operational personnel involved, could be compromised by the limited information available. A proposal for a new support tool for COS function - the Initial Intervention Plan (PII) - was developed, which is a document of quick and intuitive consultation, supplying the needs of information for COS.

Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Paradigm of Neurodiversity

The new approaches for disability are characterized through respect towards the beneficiary. In practice, this means empowering the person with a disability or an association that fights for the rights to make choices about their personal life. Empowering a person with disabilities, trusting their potential, and encouraging them to look with optimism towards the future are just a few of the aspects of change. Involving the person in making decisions for themselves and promoting those changes that have an impact on the quality of life also has a pragmatic side in the sense that it requires considerable expenses. Several debates for child's rights and people's with disabilities rights proposed the definition of “rights for a future” (Crețu, 2006). The freedom of choice does not only represent a topic from the individualized intervention plan, but additionally refers to taking responsibility, taking ownership for what the person with a disability agreed with.

Development of a Standardised Process of Scenario Writing Through a Virtual Assistant Model in Nursing Teaching

Background: The use of simulation allows students to develop skills. Simulation in the teaching of clinical skills is preceded by some stages, the first of which requires the development of a scenario. This study aimed to develop and test a virtual model for creating scenarios for realistic simulation, focusing on the person with dependence in self-care activities. Methods: A methodological study was conducted in two phases. The first phase of the study aimed to analyse and propose the structure and functioning of the virtual assistant for scenario creation through the nominal group’s technique, involving a group of 10 experts. The second, a quasi-experimental study without a control group, with 128 second-year students, in the four-year nursing degree course, who participated in two moments of realistic simulation, one with a traditional scenario and the other with a scenario built through the virtual assistant. The students completed a questionnaire to assess their understanding of the data, suggested interventions, and their contribution to learning after each simulation experience. Results: The group of experts identified the fields and key concepts that should be part of the structure of the scenarios and proposed a set of icons for better visual recognition of the information. Students considered that the new scenario template favoured their understanding of the situation under analysis and the recognition of the focuses of attention that they should prioritise for the elaboration of the intervention plan. Conclusions: A virtual role-play assistant model for a standardized process of scenario writing to help realistic simulation in nursing teaching is a novelty in this study likely to contribute to learning gains.

Optimizing Non-Pharmaceutical Intervention Strategies Against COVID-19 Using Artificial Intelligence

One key task in the early fight against the COVID-19 pandemic was to plan non-pharmaceutical interventions to reduce the spread of the infection while limiting the burden on the society and economy. With more data on the pandemic being generated, it became possible to model both the infection trends and intervention costs, transforming the creation of an intervention plan into a computational optimization problem. This paper proposes a framework developed to help policy-makers plan the best combination of non-pharmaceutical interventions and to change them over time. We developed a hybrid machine-learning epidemiological model to forecast the infection trends, aggregated the socio-economic costs from literature and expert knowledge, and used a multi-objective optimization algorithm to find and evaluate various intervention plans. The framework is modular and easily adjustable to a real-world situation, it is trained and tested with data collected from almost all countries of the world, and its proposed intervention plans generally outperform those used in real life in terms of both the number of infections and intervention costs.

Personality Factors in Colorectal Cancer: A Systematic Review

Background: The role of personality in cancer incidence and development has been studied for a long time. As colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent cancer types and linked with lifestyle habits, it is important to better understand its psychological correlates, in order to design a more specific prevention and intervention plan. The aim of this systematic review is to analyze all the studies investigating the role of personality in CRC incidence.Methods: All studies on CRC and personality up to November 2020 were scrutinized according to the Cochrane Collaboration and the PRISMA statements. Selected studies were additionally evaluated for the Risk of Bias according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS).Results: Eight studies met the inclusion criteria and were eventually included in this review. Two main constructs have been identified as potential contributors of CRC incidence: emotional regulation (anger) and relational style (egoism).Conclusion: Strong conclusions regarding the influence of personality traits on the incidence of CRC are not possible, because of the small number and the heterogeneity of the selected studies. Further research is needed to understand the complexity of personality and its role in the incidence of CRC and the interaction with other valuable risk factors.

Benefits Measurement of a plan to reduce hypertension in a Healthcare Foundation using the BCTool

The hypertension is a well know problem and associated with a high salt consuming is one of the commonest chronic diseases.To measure the impact of this consuming it has been applied the methodology provided by the Business Case tool (BC Tool), in a Portuguese foundation for elderly, in order to contribute for Intervention Plan for the reduction of hypertension which aims to reduce salt consumption in the Portuguese population and to improve the control of Hypertension through a phased reduction in salt consumption.This objective has been achieved by changing the availability of foods with lower salt contents and by decreasing the addition of salt in cooking. The results of these measures provided a substantial benefit in terms of Benefits Measurements and Cost Analysis besides the results of SROI measurement in order to obtain the social benefits of this initiative of the Intervention plan to reduce hypertension. Along these results it has been collected the suggestions for improvements that would allow the Sarah Beirão Foundation's response to the needs of its users to be improved

Benefits Measurement of a Plan to Reduce Hypertension in a Healthcare Foundation Using the BCTool

The hypertension is a well know problem and associated with a high salt consuming is one of the commonest chronic diseases.To measure the impact of this consuming it has been applied the methodology provided by the Business Case tool (BC Tool), in a Portuguese foundation for elderly, in order to contribute for Intervention Plan for the reduction of hypertension which aims to reduce salt consumption in the Portuguese population and to improve the control of Hypertension through a phased reduction in salt consumption.This objective has been achieved by changing the availability of foods with lower salt contents and by decreasing the addition of salt in cooking. The results of these measures provided a substantial benefit in terms of Benefits Measurements and Cost Analysis besides the results of SROI measurement in order to obtain the social benefits of this initiative of the Intervention plan to reduce hypertension. Along these results it has been collected the suggestions for improvements that would allow the Sarah Beirão Foundation's response to the needs of its users to be improved

Intelligent Coaching Assistant for the Promotion of Healthy Habits in a Multidomain mHealth-Based Intervention for Brain Health

Brain Health is defined as the development and preservation of optimal brain integrity and neural network functioning for a given age. Recent studies have related healthy habits with better maintenance of brain health across the lifespan. As a part of the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative (BBHI), a mHealth platform has been developed with the purpose of helping people to improve and monitor their healthy habits, facilitating the delivery of health coaching strategies. A decision support system (DSS), named Intelligent Coaching Assistant (ICA), has been developed to ease the work of professional brain health coaches, helping them design and monitor adherence to multidomain interventions in a more efficient manner. Personalized recommendations are based on users’ current healthy habits, individual preferences, and motivational aspects. Taking these inputs, an initial user profile is defined, and the ICA applies an algorithm for determining the most suitable personalized intervention plan. An initial validation has been done focusing on assessing the feasibility and usability of the solution, involving 20 participants for three weeks. We conclude that this kind of technology-based intervention is feasible and implementable in real-world settings. Importantly, the personalized intervention proposal generated by the DSS is feasible and its acceptability and usability are high.

Breaking Stereotypes Concerning Remigrated Children - A Multinational Possible Intervention Plan through School

The article is based on a multinational study involving five countries (Romania, Portugal, Italy, North Macedonia, and Iceland) facing the return migration or remigration situation. Pupils (n = 1615), teachers (n = 370), future teachers (n = 166) and youth workers (n = 30) were questioned about various aspects regarding the subject. Among the matters, cultural needs appear to the most important. Based on the statistical analysis, the article describes the dynamics of the dependent variables, with highlighted interest on cultural needs. Psychological and social needs, cultural needs, and educational needs are discussed and link conclusions appear. Following the analysis, an intervention plan is built and tailored activities for teachers are proposed. Breaking stereotypes is a sensitive aspect of the intervention for the integration of remigrated children in the country of origin. The paper presents a possible intervention plan, with the elaborated activities and argues the elaborative process by calibrating each interference with the dynamics of the studied variables.