10 consultations, more than 6300 counseling with alcohol testing and 280 HIV screenings. The Psychology and Pedagogical Support Office (GPAP) of the Health Services of the Social Action Services of the University of Algarve (UAlg) is celebrating 20 years of existence and «has been fundamental in promoting the psychological health and global well-being of the university population'.
According to Jorge Malveiro, coordinator of the Health Services and supervisor of this Office, "over these 20 years, GPAP has contributed positively to the psychosocial well-being of students and the academic community as a whole."
An example of this are the numbers that, after two decades, already show some expressiveness: in total, the GPAP carried out about 10 thousand consultations (in person and online), more than 6300 counseling with alcohol testing in the prevention of road risks, more than 2350 counseling sessions with HIV/AIDS tests, as a result of carrying out more than 280 HIV tests at UAlg, to which were added more than 950 condoms distributed at UAlg and respective HIV preventive information.
UAlg also highlights «the 375 volunteer students trained for peer intervention in the prevention of risky behavior» and «the more than 50 junior psychologists oriented in an intensive environment of clinical supervision, whether in the curriculum (national and international) or in the professional (Order of Portuguese Psychologists and Institute for Employment and Professional Training)».
To this are added «dozens of training in citizenship and personal development and institutional partnerships established with entities such as the Academic Association of UAlg, Center for Counseling and Early Detection of HIV/AIDS Infection/Regional Health Administration, Network of Health Services Psychological Support for Higher Education, Psychological Assessment and Intervention Office, Faculties, among others».
The Office also has research produced, published and awarded.
Currently, GPAP focuses its activity on four areas of activity. Since 2001, it has provided a space for psychological assistance to the academic community, in which individualized assessments, interventions and treatments are carried out.
It promotes psychopedagogical support in order to provide students with customizable techniques and strategies that, under subsequent monitoring or in their own way, can enhance academic and professional success, as well as promote the overall well-being of students.
The GPAP also acts preventively in the context of sexual risk behaviors (HIV/AIDS) and in the Prevention of Road Accidents.
«For more than a decade, the GPAP has also been a continuously sought-after place for supervising the internships of final year students of the Master's Degree in Psychology, both for students from UAlg and from other Higher Education Institutions, national and international», he summarizes Jorge Malveiro.
During the pandemic, this office also provided "a timely and effective response to the huge increase in requests for psychological support, whose prevalence focused on Anxiety and Mood disorders, and also on the aggravation of pre-existing clinical conditions".
Compared to the previous biennium, the number of individual consultations has almost tripled, exceeding 2500 since the beginning of the pandemic.
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