LATEST NEWS

Role of healthcare professionals in chronic pain

3 March 2022

Cristina Costeira, researcher at ciTechCare, published an article entitled “Appropriated management of chronic pain: a personal right, a healthcare professional duty”, on Diário de Leiria journal, for raising awareness about the importance of treating chronic pain, which affects about 3 million portuguese. According to Cristina, living with continuous pain should not be considered as a natural way of life, therefore, a proper intervention from the healthcare professionals is essential, what turns up to be more relevant since “only 22% of people with chronic pain have regular medical appointments”. However, a patients’ dedicated attitude is also mandatory in this process. Some

Cooking Workshop – Veggies4myheart project

1 March 2022

Saturday, February 26, the Cooking Workshop of the Veggies4MyHeart project took place at the School of Health Sciences (ESSLei) of the Polytechnic of Leiria, with the special participation of Chef and Nutritionist Rui Lopes and the presence of the project team.Veggies4myHeart is a ciTechCare project, led by Cátia Pontes and promoted by Intern Nutritionists Neuza Barros and Patrícia Ferreira. The project aims to promote literacy in food and nutrition as well as to reinforce the consumption of vegetables in preschool age.This year, the project was carried out in partnership with the PIICIE program (Integrated and Innovative Plan to Combat School Withdraw)

Effect of exercise training on fatigue in colorectal cancer survivors

4 February 2022

On World Cancer Day, February 4, we share an article recently published by researchers from ciTechCare in this area, entitled “Effectiveness of exercise training on cancer-related fatigue in colorectal cancer survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials” (journal Supportive Care in Cancer). According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), colorectal cancer is the most incident and deadliest tumor in Portugal. In patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer, fatigue is one of the most common and disabling problems, affecting nearly 70% patients during chemotherapy treatment and lasting for several years after its end. This high prevalence, and

Aging, falls and resistance training in older adults

21 January 2022

Pedro Morouço, investigator at ciTechCare and Director of School of Education and Social Sciences of Polytechnic of Leiria is a co-author of an article entitled “A Review on Aging, Sarcopenia, Falls, and Resistance Training in Community-Dwelling Older Adults”, that was recently published at the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Adopting a more active lifestyle is critical to reducing the number of fall episodes and its consequences. Therefore, it is essential to discuss proven exercise methods to reduce falls and the associated harmful effects. Since muscle mass, muscle strength, bone density, and cartilage function can play significant roles

What motivates patients with copd to be physically active?

19 January 2022

ciTechCare has another article published, this time in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, entitled “What Motivates Patients with COPD to Be Physically Active? A Cross-sectional Study”, developed under the project onTRACK (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028446). Motivation can be defined as ‘what moves people to act’, and low levels of motivation can lead to low levels of physical activity. This study aimed to explore the motives that people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) value for being physically active, and its relationship to participation in Pulmonary Rehabilitation programmes (an intervention with evidence in improving patients’ health), their clinical characteristics and current physical activity levels. The results show

Web-based psychotherapy and exercise interventions for depressive and anxiety disorders

17 January 2022

Roberta Frontini, researcher at ciTechCare and lecturer at the School of Health at the Polytechnic of Leiria (#ESSLei) and at the School of Arts and Design (#ESAD.CR), was the author of the book chapter “Web-Based Psychotherapy and Exercise Interventions for Depressive and Anxiety Disorders”, together with Lara Carneiro (University of Maia), José Afonso (Faculty of Sports, University of Porto) and Filipe M. Clemente (School of Sports and Leisure, Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo), in the book Digital Therapies in Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Mental Health (Chap-5, pp. 93-114). Considering the recognition that mental and physical well-being are related in people with