Regional Programme to Promote Health Literacy begins to be implemented - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Saúde e Segurança Social

The Regional Secretary for Health and Social Security, Mónica Seidi, attended today the event marking the beginning of the implementation of the Regional Programme to Promote Health Literacy.

With various events planned for October, a mini-assembly was held today at the D. Pedro V Home, Terceira Island, to learn about the specific needs of the groups involved.

Mónica Seidi stated that this was the way to "convey a message with impact."

"It is not enough to say that the programme is up and running. There is this concern about sending messages to different age groups. Today, we have an elderly population but we will also promote games with other types of messages that we want to implement in schools," she emphasised.

The event was the first in a collaboration between the Regional Directorate for Health and the Portuguese Society for Health Literacy (SPLS), which is promoting a series of actions as part of the implementation of the Regional Programme for the Promotion of Health Literacy. It includes eight interventions with contents specifically designed for the target population.

"These actions will continue until 2025. They consist of mini-assemblies on topics such as smoking, healthy eating or mental health, i.e. topics that reach the general public and that we want to reach other islands," she said.

The aim is to encourage citizens over 65 to make informed and conscious decisions about their health.

In this regard, Mónica Seidi reiterated that "citizens make better decisions the more information they have."

She added that working with SPLS "is an assurance of quality, as its professionals have highly specialised training and extensive experience in the field."