Awareness-raising actions, screenings and lectures, in several municipalities in the Algarve. This is how professionals from the Algarve Local Health Unit (ULSALG) joined the celebrations of National Stroke Patients' Day.
The activities began on March 21st and continued until April 4th, the date on which the closing ceremony of the vast program took place.
For Ana Paula Fidalgo, coordinator of the Stroke Unit at ULSALG, «these actions aimed to continue this work that we have been developing within the scope of health literacy and raising people's awareness of their effective participation in stroke prevention, identifying users with increased risk factors for vascular events and subsequently referring them to the care of health teams in order to act as quickly as possible and thus avoid stroke».
An idea shared by José Almeida, clinical director of ULSALG, who took advantage of the ceremony to highlight the increase in the provision of healthcare in this area of acute and subacute stroke, as well as post-stroke rehabilitation, with services and projects of high clinical quality in several public health units in the Algarve, also highlighting that, in the future, benefiting from the fact that they are integrated into a ULS, they will increasingly be closer to the population, with proximity projects.
Ensuring full support for this area, João Ferreira, president of the Board of Directors of ULSALG, highlighted the strategic importance of recent investments made to improve care capacity, infrastructure and the acquisition of new technological equipment that was previously non-existent, such as interventional neuroradiology.
José Apolinário, president of the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission, highlighted the strategic importance and the «choice of good investments supported by community funds» to boost the areas of Research and Development (R&D), the improvement of assistance conditions through new equipment and greater efficiency in the responses and health care provided to the resident population and all those who seek or visit the Algarve region.
In turn, Mariana Santos, nurse director of ULSALG, praised these awareness-raising initiatives and the commitment of the multidisciplinary teams that for several days toured the Algarve and were present at an action in Baixo Alentejo.
The session was attended by professionals from multidisciplinary teams and several users, representatives of the Stroke Survivors' Mutual Aid Group, as well as the presence of ULSALG executive members Carla Aleluia and Paulo Neves, who took the opportunity to inform that, also this area of stroke will soon be able to count on the collaboration of students from the Speech Therapy Course, through a protocol that will be signed between ULSALG and the School of Health of the University of Algarve.
During the session, physiatrist Carlos Machado, internist Carolina Martins and nurse João Santos also presented the project of the Integrated Specialized Center for Stroke Rehabilitation that is operating, with excellent clinical results, at Hospital Terras do Infante, in Lagos. , also integrated into ULSALG.
The awareness raising actions, which took place in several municipalities in the Algarve, included visits to schools in the region to present the project “Fast Heroes – Eating well to grow better”.
In addition, several internal activities took place in the cafeterias of public hospitals in the Algarve as part of the “Eating with health is eating with knowledge” program.
One of the aspects that aroused the most interest among the population and the greatest participation was the screening of risk factors that took place in the Municipal Markets of São Brás de Alportel and Tavira and in the Municipal Auditorium of Lagoa, where, in addition to the presence of professionals and counseling, information materials about stroke were also distributed.
This year's activities also extended to Alentejo with a training session at the Instituto Politécnico de Beja.
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