Ana Margarida Almeida

• University of Aveiro

This study describes the process of designing and developing the user interface of a digital solution aiming to promote physical and cognitive training (DanceMove) and testing for its usability by community-dwelling older adults. This study is subdivided into four phases: (i) concept and ideation, (ii) design and development of the prototype, (iii)...

Background: There are few studies on the use of Instagram during the COVID-19 pandemic in low-income countries, even though Instagram is considered a tool to fight COVID-19. Analysis: This work applies both an exploratory approach and content analysis to study the Instagram profiles of Portugal’s National Health Service and Brazil’s Ministry of Hea...

This review examines how AI and emerging technologies can increase digital accessibility in childhood education, focusing on ethics, communication, tutoring, and health. Findings are presented with consideration for accessibility and inclusion, and implications for stakeholders are explored. Concerns center around data protection and children-cent...

Territorial Innovation in Less Developed Regions Governance, Technologies, and Sustainability

To identify how digital media are being used by community-led initiatives of the Centro Region of Portugal, and to identify the requirements that a digital platform for mediation between agents in the territory should have, two focus groups were conducted, involving six small-sized community-led initiatives and six larger-sized community-led initia...

BACKGROUND Terminology and studies on usability lack common terminology and reporting standards. OBJECTIVE To generate consensus on terms and procedures that should be considered when planning and reporting a study on usability evaluation of health-related digital solutions both by users and experts. METHODS A Delphi study with two rounds was con...

Background: Usability evaluation both by experts and target users is an integral part of the process of developing and assessing digital solutions. Usability evaluation improves the probability of having digital solutions that are easier, safer, more efficient, and more pleasant to use. However, despite the widespread recognition of the importance...

The COVID-19 pandemic of the last two years has affected the lives of many individuals, especially the most vulnerable and at-risk population groups, e.g., older adults. While social distancing and isolation are shown to be effective at decreasing the transmission of the virus, these actions have also increased loneliness and social isolation. To c...

All digital resources, namely Digital Learning Resources (DLR), should guarantee accessibility and inclusiveness to all people. This study analyses the accessibility of Audiovisual DLR, specifically video resources, fixed images, and podcasts. Three matrices were developed, considering the accessibility requirements proposed by the World Wide Web C...

The emergence of antibiotic resistance (ABR) is one of the most serious public health threats worldwide. The inappropriate use of antibiotics is considered the main determinant for the increase and development of ABR, contributing to a greater risk of therapeutic ineffectiveness, particularly within primary care context. Therefore, this pilot study...

While the lockdown significantly reduced face-to-face meetings, video conferencing platforms began to be used widely to leverage different sectors, such as academia. In this scope, scientific events such as seminars and conferences were migrating to the online environment. However, online events usually do not dedicate time to group activities, dec...

This study is part of a research conducted under the CeNTER Program, an interdisciplinary project that aimed to promote the development of the Centro Region of Portugal. The general contribution of this paper is the evaluation of a mobile application prototype to promote the collaboration between the various agents involved in the areas of Tourism,...

BACKGROUND For the development of digital solutions different aspects of user interface design must be taken into consideration. Different technologies and interaction paradigms, user characteristics and needs, and interface design components are some of the aspects that designers and developers should pay attention to when designing a solution. A...

Background For the development of digital solutions, different aspects of user interface design must be taken into consideration. Different technologies, interaction paradigms, user characteristics and needs, and interface design components are some of the aspects that designers and developers should pay attention to when designing a solution. Many...

Digital media can provide an essential contribution to the development of local communities by creating digital environments that facilitate the sharing of information, dissemination of knowledge, and construction of organizational learning. Digital media can also promote interaction and collaboration processes among different regional agents, fost...

Digital interventions are important tools to promote mental health literacy among university students. “Depression in Portuguese University Students” (Depressão em Estudantes Universitários Portugueses, DEEP) is an audiovisual intervention describing how symptoms can be identified and what possible treatments can be applied. The aim of this study w...

This study aims to analyse, describe and reflect on how Mathematics and Teaching Project (Pmate) history can influence the most relevant creative decisions when restructuring and redesigning it. Pmate is a 32-year-old research project based on an online platform created and coordinated by a team from the University of Aveiro. Its mission is to achi...

Audiovisual translation techniques, such as audio description (AD), subtitling and dubbing, have a significant role in the overall television experience of people with visual or hearing impairments, illiterate or persons unfamiliar with foreign languages. These techniques are assured by qualified professionals using specific technical resources, re...

Instagram (IG) has been used as a health promotion tool by national and international sanitary authorities to tackle COVID-19. The profile of the World Health Organization (WHO) on IG contributed to spread and update information on the new coronavirus prevention This study focus attention on a non-pharmaceutical control measure (face mask in the co...

This research aims to provide an overview of the existent digital solutions for birth plans’ creation, intending to contribute for the advance of e-health services focused on the perinatal decision-making process. Primary data was found through a web search procedure. Better ranked options complying with the following criteria were included: (a) av...

Introdução: A utilização das mídias sociais para a autogestão de informações sobre saúde constitui uma prática recorrente dos usuários leigos que vivenciam diferentes contextos de saúde. Embora facilitem o acesso e o compartilhamento de informações, as mídias sociais podem contribuir para a criação de possíveis riscos à saúde e ao bem-estar, uma ve...

Between 2015 and 2020, the adherence of South American health authorities to Instagram has increased. In 2015, from a total of 12 countries, there were three active profiles and, in 2019, there were nine. However, a few studies analyze the use of Instagram as a strategic tool in the context of public health in developing or low-income countries. Th...

This article addresses the perceptions of university students about the Portuguese National Health Service (NHS) on Instagram (IG), which is the main profile of the country’s government on the platform. Young people are the largest audience of this social media (SM), which has been considered as a tool to promote public health. Therefore, this stud...

In order to build knowledge and to make informed- decisions regarding childbirth, women need to gather information. Online resources can play a relevant role to its access, and health professionals can recommend, support and endorse it. The aim of this study is to understand the current state of e-health services for childbirth education provided b...

Objetivo: Em momentos de transição, como mudanças inesperadas ou eventos estressantes, os sujeitos tendem a buscar bases informacionais que diminuam seu estado de incerteza e contribuam com a tomada de decisão informada. Uma das formas de transpor as dificuldades impostas por um novo ambiente informacional complexo é o desenvolvimento da resiliê...

This paper aims to present the theoretical background and the methodological procedures that supported developing a digital hypermedia platform to promote territorial innovation in the Centro Region of Portugal. It shows the complementary steps to develop a reference framework of digital mediation strategies for territorial based innovation process...

This paper presents the prototyping and evaluation of a mobile application that is being developed to promote territorial-based innovation. It also describes the methodological procedures adopted for the application design and evaluation phases involved in its construction. To carry out a proof of concept of the prototype with a focus on usability,...

Purpose This research proposes a framework to guide the development and analysis of digital interventions, namely, through mobile applications, regarding labor and birth. By complying with current scientific evidence, this paper aims to contribute to the safeness and completeness of perinatal health education targeting expectant parents. Design/me...

Este trabalho apresenta um recorte de uma investigação que teve por objetivo analisar a inclusão digital de jovens moradores de Natal no Estado do Rio Grande do Norte (RN). Trata-se de uma pesquisa piloto, quantitativa, exploratória e descritiva na qual participaram 21 jovens entre 15 e 18 anos de idade. Os dados foram organizados com o apoio de es...

This study is part of a larger research effort taking place under the umbrella of CeNTER Program, an interdisciplinary project that aims to promote the development of the Centro Region of Portugal. The general contribution of this paper is the evaluation of a mobile application prototype that promotes collaboration between the various agents involv...

Optimizing clinical communication between patients and health professionals is a major demand, particularly in mental health; the use of digital media is creating new opportunities in this field. Messaging services can be particularly useful to enhance communication with patients with depression, between consultations, allowing the delivery of supp...

Este artigo apresenta o processo de desenvolvimento e testagem de um protótipo de uma narrativa gamificada, que visa apoiar a aprendizagem de leitura de alunos com dislexia. Motivação, engajamento e aprendizagem foram os domínios medidos a partir das perspectivas dos participantes coletados por meio de escalas e entrevistas abertas. Os dados das en...

Para comprender a las humanidades digitales en profundidad se debe observar su aplicabilidad. Un ejemplo de iniciativa que reúne conceptos de las humanidades digitales es la Aldea de Xisto, desarrollada en Portugal para atraer personas a las olvidadas aldeas de Portugal. Estas aldeas, que tienen por característica una construcción en piedra, vivían...

Digital platforms can facilitate the establishment of collaboration networks between tourists and local agents, promoting the importance of dialogue, as well as the opportunity for constant innovation. In this way, digital platforms can help tourists co-create their most valuable experiences with other tourists and influence a tourism destination's...

Digital platforms can facilitate the establishment of collaboration networks between tourists and local agents, promoting the importance of dialogue as well as the opportunity for constant innovation. In this way, digital platforms can help tourists to co-create their most valuable experiences with other tourists and influence the success of a tour...

The fast demographic ageing and technological progress are leading to a greater demand to develop digital solutions that can foster communication, information, and socialization of the elderly population. In the past decade, kiosks have been used to prevent digital exclusion and to promote the quality of life of this age group. This paper analyses...

This paper describes the research design of an ongoing study that overlaps three main fields: technology, health, and social science. This transdisciplinarity approach naturally brings challenges to the methodological plan, which this paper presents, and aims to guide the creation, validation and evaluation of a digital decision aid, and its compar...

Despite the increasing use of social media in Health Promotion (HP) and Public Health, studies indicate that health entities have difficulties guaranteeing citizens’ participation in these platforms. This exploratory study analyzed the topics covered and the interactions with followers on the Instagram profiles of both the National Health Service (...

Registered Dietitians and Nutritionists (RDNs) have been taking on a role as communicators on social media. This phenomenon is in line with nutritional culture defending the right way of eating based on their scientific knowledge. It is necessary to understand new dynamics between RDNs and social media users. Under this context an online survey was...

Depression is a global health problem; as an illness it may affect any person, independently from age, job or social condition. University students are immersed in environments of high levels of stress and responsibility, which may cause depressive symptoms. This is the context from which the relevance of the work described in this paper derives: a...

Digital tools in healthcare have been rapidly emerging over the past decade, with these tools consisting of clinical decision support systems, diagnostic tools or educational materials, such as e-learning courses. eHealthResp comprises an online course, primarily aiming to support physicians and pharmacists on the management of upper respiratory tr...

A previous research about mobile games and children with Down syndrome left some questions about the relevance of the game story and how touch screen interfaces can be used to enhance the engagement of this audience. In this way, a systematic literature review was needed to find frameworks and guidelines to aid the development of mobile games for c...

This article discusses the development of an e-moderation model for an online community in Special Education, whose objective is a more accessible communication between families and education and health professionals. The study used a development research methodology, which involved several complementary steps, including the analysis of existing e-...

Little attention is being paid to public health organizations as content producers in social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article aims at analysing the strategic communication practices of health authorities on Instagram (IG) in the face of informational challenges caused by the pandemic. It seeks to demonstrate the role of IG in the de...

Pouca atenção tem sido dispensada às organizações de saúde pública enquanto produtoras de conteúdo nos social media durante a pandemia da COVID-19. Este artigo tem o objetivo de analisar as práticas de comunicação estratégica das autoridades de saúde no Instagram (IG) frente aos desafios informacionais causados pela pandemia. Procura-se demonstrar...

Introdução: A imigração feminina é um cenário que tem atravessado tempos. Atualmente é um fenômeno não mais protagonizado exclusivamente pela figura masculina, surgindo muitas vezes no contexto da maternidade. Neste, a mulher se depara com diversos desafios, desde o pré-natal ao parto e pós-parto. Mesmo sendo um País cuja língua materna seja o port...

The context of territory-based innovation processes includes both barriers and incentives. This chapter presents the research and findings of a study conducted with two sets of five community-led initiatives, one composed of small-sized initiatives and another composed of larger-sized initiatives, with a view to identify barriers and incentives to...

Background: The assessment of usability is a complex process that involves several steps and procedures. It is important to standardize the evaluation and reporting of usability procedures across studies to guide researchers, facilitate comparisons across studies and promote high-quality usability studies A first step to standardizing is to have an...

Despite the increasing use of social media in Health Promotion (HP) and Public Health, studies indicate that health entities have difficulties guaranteeing citizens' participation in these platforms. This exploratory study analyzed the topics covered and the interactions with followers on the Instagram profiles of both the National Health Service (...

The context of territory-based innovation processes includes both barriers and incentives. This chapter presents and discusses the research and findings of a study conducted with two sets of five community-led initiatives, one composed of small-sized initiatives and another composed of larger-sized initiatives, with a view to identify barriers and...

Challenges are one of the most common strategies used by Opinion Leaders on Social Media to engage users. They are often found in different areas; in the Health field, the use of challenges is growing, namely through initiatives aiming at eating behaviour change. Instagram is considered to be one of the most used Social Media applications to develo...

BACKGROUND The assessment of usability is a complex process that involves several steps and procedures. It is important to standardize the evaluation and reporting of usability procedures across studies to guide researchers, facilitate comparisons across studies and promote high-quality usability studies A first step to standardizing is to have an...

This article brings together empirical academic research on community-led territorial innovation initiatives. By engaging in a systematic literature review, the research analyses the role of digital technology in supporting community-led initiatives. Besides identifying the technologies used, this research develops an understanding both on its purp...

Research highlights

BACKGROUND The misuse of antibiotics represents a global public health issue that fosters bacterial resistances and jeopardizes generational health. The development of validated tools such as online courses and mobile app to enhance the clinical decision in upper respiratory infections are of great importance to reduce the inadequate use of antibio...

Background The misuse of antibiotics is a global public health issue that fosters bacterial resistance and jeopardizes generational health. The development of validated tools such as web-based courses and mobile apps to enhance clinical decisions in upper respiratory infections is of great importance in reducing the incorrect use of antibiotics in...

Este Policy Paper apresenta algumas recomendações como resultado do estudo realizado na Região Centro de Portugal para identificar barreiras e incentivos ao uso das ferramentas digitais e à interação entre agentes na promoção de iniciativas de base comunitária para a inovação territorial. As suas conclusões expõem as principais mensagens-chave e re...

At its present state, Social Media (SM) is an important stage to promote user participation, acting as an open space for the discussion of a multitude of fields, one of which being health. Professionals, like Registered Nutritionists and Dietitians (RNDs), whose access to media was traditionally more restricted, are also more engaged in this new co...

The Mind Safety – Safety Matters (hereinafter referred to as MS-SM) project aim to improve and innovate methods of teaching safety and health issues in the classroom, motivating and preparing young people to work in safe conditions, encouraging them to be more aware about Occupational Safety and Health (hereinafter referred to as OSH) themes and to...

Background: People with visual impairment or blindness face a wide range of daily barriers, both at school and at work. Objective: This article describes the development process of an online resource, addressing Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), accessible for students with visual impairment or blindness. Methods: This study was framed in...

This study presents the prototyping process of a mobile application that aims to promote territorial innovation. Initially, the contribution of this type of platform to hypermediation and the design aspects linked to the development of the interface will be addressed, for a better user experience. Later, the adopted methodology is presented, suppor...

Digital social networks are contemporary info-communicational spaces, which are influencing the social and economic development of the territories. Still, the role of digital social networks in the process of community-led territorial innovation has not yet been sufficiently investigated. The scarcity of scientific studies and publications on this...

Atualmente, existe um grande número de aplicações para telemóvel que propõem contribuir para desenvolver comportamentos alimentares saudáveis. Algumas destas soluções digitais utilizam estratégias de gamificação que incentivam os utilizadores a alterar as suas atitudes e comportamentos relativamente à nutrição, ao exercício físico, entre outros. O...

No presente artigo apresenta-se uma reflexão e análise sobre os processos que conduzem à promoção da inovação de base territorial, dando especial ênfase às estratégias de redes e de mediação digital que podem facilitar esses processos. Este estudo enquadra-se num trabalho de investigação mais abrangente desenvolvido no âmbito do programa CeNTER-Red...

No presente artigo apresenta-se uma reflexão e análise sobre os processos que conduzem à promoção da inovação de base territorial, dando especial ênfase às estratégias de redes e de mediação digital que podem facilitar esses processos. Este estudo enquadra-se num trabalho de investigação mais abrangente desenvolvido no âmbito do programa CeNTER-Red...

Nesta comunicação apresentam-se os resultados referentes ao estudo e especificação de uma plataforma digital, concebida para dar suporte a processos de inovação de base territorial da região Centro de Portugal. Os resultados apresentados são focados nas funcionalidades de mediação, embora outras funcionalidades, nomeadamente relativas ao registo e...

This article reports on the experience of two community-led initiatives, "BioLiving" and "Bons Sons", as an example of good practices for the mobilization of regional endogenous potential to promote the development processes of Portuguese center region. The objective of this study is to understand the role that digital technologies can play in the...

A great challenge on Assistive Technology (AT) is the evaluation phase of the interaction devices. Generally the gap between users and devices is discovered during the use. This fact highlights the relevance to discuss this barriers early in the design process, specially, in the evaluation phase. This paper explores current practices about evaluati...

This article reports on the experience of two community-led initiatives, "BioLiving" and "Bons Sons", as an example of good practices for the mobilization of regional endogenous potential to promote the development processes of Portuguese center region. The objective of this study is to understand the role that digital technologies can play in the...

Cancer prevention should start as early as possible. Young adults would benefit largely from the use of a smartphone app aiming at promoting cancer prevention behaviours. The aims of the study described in this paper are to (1) examine the user participation and engagement with a cancer prevention app in real-life settings and (2) assess changes in...

The purpose of this paper is to present preliminary results of an ongoing research that seeks to diagnose inclusive practices in Brazilian and Portuguese university libraries, particularly in what concerns to the role of an accessible campus on the inclusion of users with special needs. The results were collected through an online questionnaire app...

Since the beginning of the century two thirds of the Portuguese territory is threatened by desertification and the decline of economic activities. To face such trends, regions need to implement innovative strategies that leverage on the endogenous resources of the territory to foster economic recovery and to promote entrepreneurship, creativity, sm...

Resumo O raciocínio e a construção do sentido espacial são capacidades essenciais em todos os processos de aprendizagem e compreensão matemática de crianças com desenvolvimento típico. Em crianças com Perturbação do Espectro do Autismo (PEA), estas capacidades se tornam ainda muito mais significativas, considerando o papel relevante que desempenham...