FOODLIT-PRO: Food literacy domains, influential factors and determinants—A qualitative study

Poor eating habits are increasing the prevalence of weight-related issues, such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Given the demand to improve individuals’ food knowledge and competencies aiming at healthier behaviours, the current investigation explores the concept of food literacy. Considering the lack of a shared understanding of food literacy, this study aims to explore food literacy’s domains, influential factors and determinants. Using a qualitative deductive-dominant content analysis, 30 experts from food-related fields were interviewed. The obtained outcomes were compared to available food literacy frameworks. Agreement among inter-raters was nearly perfect (k = 0.82). Yielding a total of 184 codes nested within 19 categories, identified domains were Origin, Safety, Choice and Decision, Select and Acquire, Plan, Preserve, Prepare, Cook, and Knowledge; influential factors included Nutrition, Psychological, Health, Learning Contexts, Policy, Industry, Sustainability, and Social and Cultural; External determinants were “Access to Food-Related Information”, “Perishable and/or Unreliable Food-Related Information”, “Family Dynamic and/or Identity”, and “Professionals’ Unpreparedness on Food-Related Expertise”, and Internal determinants included “Prioritise Food”, “Convenience and Practicality”, “Time and Financial Management”, “Previous Food-Related Habits”, and “Innate and Learned Flavour Preferences”. In conclusion, more than half of the identified attributes (62.5%) are corroborated by the current literature. However, the manifested content unmatched with the current frameworks of food literacy literature express food-literacy-related fields of action, knowledge, competencies, and determinants that have not yet been explored. As such, this study provides new and useful information concerning food literacy definition and development, by identifying its domains, factors of influence, and potential determinants. Moreover, this work paves the way for new measurements and interventions within this field

Data-driven carbohydrate counting accuracy monitoring: A personalized approach

Accurate carbohydrate counting is crucial for type 1 diabetes mellitus patients on intensive insulin therapy to get on-target blood glucose values. So, it is fundamental to assess their ability to estimate meals’ carbohydrate content and, if needed, recommend carbohydrate counting training. In this context, we propose a personalized data-driven approach to monitor the patients’ ability to estimate the carbohydrate content of meals. The proposed approach uses personalized data to compute a safe range for the carbohydrate counting error according to the characteristics of each patient and adjust this interval to the patient's daily routines and food habits. Initially, the proposed method uses the insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio, the insulin sensitivity factor, the blood glucose limits, and the blood glucose target to compute a safe interval for the carbohydrate counting error, so the patient could train to reach this goal. Then, the app uses collected daily life data (i.e., blood glucose, meals carbohydrates content, and insulin bolus) to adjust the initial safe interval for the carbohydrate counting error according to the patient's needs. Preliminary assessment using the FDA-approved University of Virginia (UVA)/Padova Type 1 Diabetes Simulator shows the potential of the proposed approach to help type 1 diabetes patients being aware of their needs for carbohydrate counting education and how accurate they should be to achieve suitable blood glucose levels. Therefore, this tool has the potential to be a great asset to healthcare professionals and patients, improving the carbohydrate counting learning outcomes and leading to better glycemic control.publishe

BUILDING BRIDGES FOR INNOVATION IN AGEING : SYNERGIES BETWEEN ACTION GROUPS OF THE EIP ON AHA

The Strategic Implementation Plan of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) proposed six Action Groups. After almost three years of activity, many achievements have been obtained through commitments or collaborative work of the Action Groups. However, they have often worked in silos and, consequently, synergies between Action Groups have been proposed to strengthen the triple win of the EIP on AHA. The paper presents the methodology and current status of the Task Force on EIP on AHA synergies. Synergies are in line with the Action Groups' new Renovated Action Plan (2016-2018) to ensure that their future objectives are coherent and fully connected. The outcomes and impact of synergies are using the Monitoring and Assessment Framework for the EIP on AHA (MAFEIP). Eight proposals for synergies have been approved by the Task Force: Five cross-cutting synergies which can be used for all current and future synergies as they consider overarching domains (appropriate polypharmacy, citizen empowerment, teaching and coaching on AHA, deployment of synergies to EU regions, Responsible Research and Innovation), and three cross-cutting synergies focussing on current Action Group activities (falls, frailty, integrated care and chronic respiratory diseases).Peer reviewe

Internet addiction and lonliness among Portugese elementary school students: an exploratory quantitative study [poster]

1st World Congress of Children and Youth Health Behaviors / 4th National Congress on Health Education: Viseu, Portugal: May 23-25, 201

Diminuição da assimetria da informação e promoção da decisão partilhada em saúde - Avaliação da Literacia em Saúde, Empoderamento e Qualidade de Vida em Indivíduos com Diabetes tipo 2

Lição apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do título de agregado em Ciências da Informação, especialidade em Sistemas, Tecnologias e Gestão da InformaçãoN/

Diminuição da assimetria da informação e promoção da decisão partilhada em saúde - Avaliação da Literacia em Saúde, Empoderamento e Qualidade de Vida em Indivíduos com Diabetes tipo 2

Lição apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do título de agregado em Ciências da Informação, especialidade em Sistemas, Tecnologias e Gestão da InformaçãoN/

European consensus of criteria for the evaluation of good practices in chronic conditions

Los sistemas sanitarios reconocen las enfermedades crónicas como uno de sus grandes desafíos de salud del siglo XXI para los sistemas sanitarios. A pesar de ser en gran medida prevenibles, las enfermedades crónicas son importante causa de mortalidad y morbilidad en Europa. En 2015, más de 1,2 millones de personas en los países de la UE murieron por enfermedades y lesiones que podrían haberse evitado a través de políticas de salud pública más fuertes o de una atención médica más efectiva y menos fragmentada. La presente tesis doctoral reporta el desarrollo y resultados de una proceso de consenso internacional cuyo objetivo ha sido desarrollar criterios de evaluación para valorar el potencial de las prácticas clínicas e intervenciones y políticas sanitarias a la hora de disminuir la carga atribuible a las enfermedades crónicas en cuatro áreas de interés: Promoción de la salud y prevención primaria de condiciones crónicas; Intervenciones organizativas enfocadas al tratamiento de pacientes crónicos con condiciones clínicas múltiples; Intervenciones sobre el empoderamiento del paciente; e, Intervenciones y políticas orientadas a mejorar la diabetes (la diabetes se utiliza como condición paradigmática). Con objeto de acordar los criterios de evaluación y otorgarles relevancia distinta en función del dominio de interés, se desarrolló un consenso internacional mediante la técnica Delphi-modificada, en la que participaron 113 expertos de diferentes disciplinas procedentes de 23 países europeos. El proceso de consenso produjo 145 categoría de evaluación (28 categorías en el Delphi de Health promotion and primary prevention of chronic conditions, 50 en el de Organizational interventions aimed at dealing with complex chronic patients with multiple conditions, 28 en el de Patient empowerment interventions with chronic conditions y 39 categorías en el Delphi de diabetes as a case-study) orientadas a valorar cada uno de los citados dominios y ponderarlos en función de cada área de interés. El conjunto de criterios y categorías acordados para el caso paradigmático de Diabetes apoya la hipótesis de que los criterios de valoración son transferibles y aplicables a la evaluación de prácticas, intervenciones y políticas desarrolladas sobre otras condiciones crónicas. Consistentemente con lo observado en otras iniciativas europeas, en este consenso, los criterios relacionados con ‘diseño de la práctica’, ‘evaluación’, ‘sostenibilidad’ y ‘escalabilidad’ parecen ser componentes esenciales en el desarrollo e implementación de buenas prácticas en Europa. Por último, como virtualidad destacable de este proceso de consenso, el componente internacional de las decisiones consensuadas, apoya la posibilidad de que las prácticas evaluadas con los criterios y categorías acordados puedan ser transferidas a cualquier contexto europeo.<br /

Distributed health literacy among people living with type 2 diabetes in Portugal: Defining levels of awareness and support

This study embraces a patient‐centred and narrative‐oriented notion of health literacy, exploring how social networks and personal experiences constitute distributed health literacy (DHL) by mapping out health literacy mediators of each individual and how they enable self‐management skills and knowledge of health conditions. Semi‐structured interviews with 26 patients with type 2 diabetes were conducted in a Primary Care Center of Porto (Portugal) from October 2014 to December 2015. Data were collected based on McGill Illness Narrative Interview (MINI). Following the grounded theory, interviews were analysed as case‐based and process‐tracing‐oriented. Three awareness narratives emerged: (i) a narrative of minimisation revealing minimal impact of diabetes in patients’ lives and daily routines, resignation towards “inevitable” consequences of the diagnosis and dependence of a large network of health literacy mediators; (ii) a narrative of empathy, where patients tended to mention readjustments in their lives by following medical recommendations regarding medication without criticism and with few health literacy mediators; (iii) a narrative of disruption, with patients highlighting the huge impact of diabetes on their lives and their individual responsibility and autonomy with respect to the management of diabetes and the search for alternatives to medication, relying on a very restrictive network of mediators. Exploring meanings given to diagnosis, identifying health mediators and analysing the structure of social networks can contribute to understand the distributed nature of health literacy. Assessing DHL can assist health professionals and those providing care in the community in promoting health literacy and providing models for a more patient‐centred health system.This research was supported by FEDER funding from the Operational Program Factors of Competitiveness—COMPETE and by national funding from the FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology (Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science) within the grants SFRH/BD/78949/2011 (to L.A.), and IF/01674/2015 (to S.S.)

Health Literacy in Context—Settings, Media, and Populations

To date, most published health literacy research has focused on assessing and improving personal skills and abilities. More recently, a better understanding has emerged of the extent to which these skills and abilities are mediated by environmental demands and situational complexities — the context in which health literacy is developed and applied. This has led to much greater attention being given to ways of reducing the situational demands and complexity in which an individual makes a health decision. This collection of papers examines current progress in understanding health literacy "in context", by improving our understanding of the mutual impact of a range of social, economic, environmental, and organisational influences on health literacy. These papers provide unique and original perspectives on the concept, distribution, and application of health literacy in very diverse populations, offering cultural insights and a clear indication of the impact of social and environmental context on health literacy. These perspectives include an examination of differing national policy responses to health literacy illustrating how policy and practice can (and should) respond to this more complete but complex understanding of health literacy. Other papers look at the application of new digital media and the creative harnessing of popular culture as routes to extend the reach and customisation of communications. These papers also illustrate good progress in the evolution of research in the contexts in which health literacy is developed and applied, as well as signaling some areas in which more research would be useful