October 16, 2024 brought encouraging news for Health in Portugal. At a conference held at the LEAP Auditorium in Lisbon, Médis – brand of the Ageas Portugal Group – announced the main conclusions of a study led by Public Health specialist Adalberto Campos Fernandes.
Called “The health of the Portuguese: a BI with its own name”, the Health Project research, which had its first edition in 2021, revealed improvements in most indicators, although the data concludes that there are still some challenges in access and equity in the health system. Maria do Carmo Silveira, responsible for the strategic orchestration of the health ecosystem of the Ageas Portugal Group, considers that this study “contradicts an overly pessimistic narrative that has taken hold.” However, “although this is good news, the person in charge believes that the challenges and opportunities must be addressed in a coordinated manner, for the sake of the sustainability of the system.”
Digitalization is largely responsible for the improvement of services
The Portuguese say that health literacy has increased significantly since 2021, thanks to the digitalization of health. This means that the growing use of the Internet as a source of information on this topic is one of the factors that best explains the satisfaction of the Portuguese with public and private services. More information, more knowledge, therefore.
Unequal access and financial health are the biggest challenges
Despite global improvements, the Médis study concludes that regional inequalities remain a problem in our country: it should be noted that Greater Porto stands out as the region with the best access and greatest confidence in the response capacity of the NHS; while the Algarve has the greatest difficulty in access, with a 25% drop in the perception of health monitoring, compared to 2021.
But the biggest challenge seems to be related to Portuguese people with lower incomes, as 33% say they have felt a negative impact on their health in the last year, caused by financial problems. Among respondents who report having income below household needs, 46% have faced mental health problems in the past two years, demonstrating the impact of financial difficulties on psychological well-being.
The Portuguese make little effort to improve their health
Based on the study’s “health potency” indicator, which assesses individual and proactive efforts to improve their health status, the results reveal enormous potential for improvement. If 48% of those surveyed intend to improve their state of health, only 20% of this population demonstrates that they have appropriate behaviors to achieve this goal in their daily lives, specifically with regard to nutrition, physical exercise and relationships. social. This is a determining indicator not only to demonstrate each person’s concern for improving, but also for maintaining their state of health. Is it related to psychological well-being and economic difficulties, highlighted in the previous point?
The study, carried out in collaboration with Return On Ideas, included a representative sample of 1,056 people and analyzed the evolution of five key health indicators: quality, access, literacy, perception and “Health Power”.
Source: Observadora
