Dr. Paulo Valério, adjunct of the Coimbra’s civil governor, stated that the relationship with the Nursing School of Coimbra (ESEnfC) has been a “successful dating relationship” and “a surprising story of affectivity and complicity”.
Paulo Valério, who opened the 3rd Peer Education Meeting, stated that “the School has the initiative of rendering accounts after each intervention”, which assures the Civil Government that it is “investing on a good project”.
Therefore, he pointed out the “seriousness and scientific rigour” of the projects from the Workshop on Expressivity, coordinated by Professor Irma Brito. More precisely, Paulo Valério was mentioning the project “Before You Get Burned”, a project of individual counselling and assessment of alcohol among the students participating in academic festivities (Queima das Fitas and Festa das Latas), and also of prevention of all the other risks associated with these recreational moments, such as STDs.
The adjunct of the civil governor also said that “if we invest on prevention we will reduce the pressure related to the allocation of resources in other areas” of the right to health.
The Peer Education Meeting aims to discuss the strategies of Peer Education (a model in which the members of the same social group or with similar characteristics educate themselves mutually) and spread the word about the projects of the ESEnfC which used this training methodology (besides the “Workshop on Expressivity”, we have the “White Ribbon Project”).
The Expressivity Workshop (Group of Peer Education in Health) has been operating since 2002, at the ESEnfC, and has been based on the voluntary work of Nursing students who, coordinated by teachers and provided with na adequate training, develop training sessions of health promotion aimed at young people.
The White Ribbon Project, coordinated by Professor Maria Neto, aims to reduce violence, starting with the type of violence perpetrated against women in a dating relationship, and promote gender equality and equality of opportunities.
The Meeting was sponsored by the ESEnfC and the Portuguese Youth Institute.
