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World Mental Health Day: "Access to Services - Mental Health in Disasters and Emergencies"

World Mental Health Day takes place on 10 October, established by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH). This year, the theme defined by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) centres on "Access to Services - Mental Health in Disasters and Emergencies", highlighting the importance of ensuring adequate care in crisis contexts. The Order of Physiotherapists is associated with this date, emphasising the contribution of Physiotherapy in Mental Health to promoting overall health and improving quality of life.

Physiotherapy in Mental Health is a transversal and specific area of physiotherapy that operates in different health, mental health, psychiatric and psychosomatic medicine environments. It can act in particular in the relationship between somatic disorders and psychological problems (sleep disturbances, fear related to pain, psychological stress and depressed mood associated with a clinical condition); in the relationship between mild mental disorders and the main chronic non-communicable diseases (anxiety and moderate depression associated with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, diabetes and cancer), in the relationship between somatic disorders and mild mental health disorders (depression associated with chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder associated with fibromyalgia and anxiety associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and in the specialised approach to serious mental illnesses (major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and addictive behaviours and dependencies) in psychiatric units/hospitals.

Recent studies reinforce the scientific evidence of this impact. One 2022 meta-analysis concluded that regular physical exercise - three times a week for eight weeks - significantly reduces symptoms of depression in adolescents. Another analysis, which included 27 studiesIn a study of the elderly population in the United States, the study of the elderly population in the United States showed that higher levels of physical activity are associated with an improvement in schizophrenia symptoms. Among the senior population, aerobic exercise has also shown consistent benefits for mental and emotional health.

The Order also recommends reading book "Physiotherapy in Mental Health - Experience Informs Evidence", with the participation of the Physiotherapy in Mental Health Working Group, available at here, as an essential resource for professionals and students in the field.

In marking World Mental Health Day, the Order of Physiotherapists emphasises the profession's commitment to an integrated approach to health, in which body and mind are inseparable, and highlights physiotherapy's contribution to promoting physical and emotional well-being.

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Pedro Maciel Barbosa

Specialist physiotherapist at the Matosinhos Local Health Unit Sub-coordinator for Primary Health Care, Matosinhos Local Health Unit Visiting Assistant Professor at the Porto School of Health Member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Health - SNS Member of the General Council of the Order of Physiotherapists

Carlos Sand

Carlos Areia has been a physiotherapist since 2013, and has worked in various hospitals, clinics and clubs in both Portugal and the UK. He began his academic career at Oxford University in 2016, where he led a clinical trial comparing physiotherapy vs surgery in anterior cruciate injuries in 32 hospitals in England. In 2018 she moved to the neurosciences department, where she developed her own studies on remote monitoring of vital signs, which were implemented during the pandemic. Here he discovered his passion for data, and in 2022, he joined Digital Science as a Data Scientist. He completed his PhD earlier this year, and has more than 60 publications in journals such as The Lancet, BMJ, Cochrane, among others. He is also an honorary lecturer at Oxford Brookes University and a consultant in clinical research.

Eduardo José Brazete Carvalho Cruz

PhD in Physiotherapy from the University of Brighton, UK. Post-Doctorate in Epidemiology from the National School of Public Health at the New University of Lisbon.
Coordinator of the Studies and Planning Office of the Order of Physiotherapists. Coordinating Professor of the Physiotherapy Department of the School of Health of the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal (ESS-IPS). President of the ESS-IPS Technical-Scientific Council. Coordinator of the Physiotherapy Department at ESS-IPS. Integrated Researcher at the Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC) (a partnership between FCM-UNL, the National School of Public Health, the University of Évora, the Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health and Santo Espírito Hospital, Terceira Island, Azores).

Sara Souto Miranda

Sara Souto Miranda has a bachelor's and master's degree in physiotherapy from the University of Aveiro, and a postgraduate qualification in adult respiratory physiotherapy from the same institution. In 2023 she completed her double doctorate in Rehabilitation Sciences/Health, Medicine and Life Sciences at the Universities of Aveiro and Maastricht (Netherlands) and is currently working as a technical-scientific advisor to the Studies and Planning Office (GEP) of the Order of Physiotherapists, and as a guest lecturer at the Piaget Institute in Vila Nova de Gaia. As a member of the Respiratory Research and Rehabilitation Laboratory at the University of Aveiro (Lab3R), she has carried out applied research in which she has assessed and treated patients with respiratory pathology, having taken part in 6 research projects. Throughout her career she has published 19 scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals with an impact factor, 1 book chapter and more than 50 abstracts in conference proceedings. She was a research volunteer at the Ciro rehabilitation centre (Centre for expertise in chronic organ failure) in the Netherlands, and is currently a member of the Guideline Methodology Network of European Respiratory Society. She was honoured by European Lung Foundation e European Respiratory Society for carrying out patient-centred research, by the Directorate General for Higher Education with a merit grant for his master's degree, and by the Ciro Centre with a grant to support research abroad.

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