The Regional Secretary for Health revealed the public interest in the so-called Community Health and the specialisation in Community Nursing in Ponta Delgada on Thursday morning.

Miguel Correia spoke, on behalf of the President of the Government, at the opening session of the Conference on Community Health - Changing the Present ... Planning the Future, stating that this public interest has been recognised by the Government which granted scholarships to 15 trainees, thus acknowledging the importance of this training as well as of the new skills acquired by the graduate nurses.

The initiative, promoted by the Nurses enrolled in the Postgraduate Degree in Community Nursing, aims to disseminate the results of the Community Health Diagnosis that was carried out in the villages of Covoada (Ponta Delgada) Santa Bárbara (Ribeira Grande) and São Pedro (Vila Franca do Campo) and to make suggestions for eventual changes in the political, strategic and practical aspects in the field of Health.

In this regard, the Secretary for Health considered that the spirit of Community Nursing fully embodies the goals of the Regional Health Plan which identified the needs and defined the measured and goals the Regional Government intends to implement among the Azorean population in terms of public Health. He also mentioned that the three projects that have been developed by these nurses of utmost interest for the sector.

Miguel Correia reiterated that the Government hopes that Health policies may become increasingly closer to citizens and, in this context, he conveyed his willingness to allocate resources if these policies enhance the efficiency of services and the management of the available resources in healthcare units.

At the occasion, the Regional Secretary took the opportunity to mention the achievement of other projects which, despite not being related to Community Nursing, are nevertheless of great importance to public Health. This is the case of the project to promote active aging designated as “Por Favor não Caia” (Please don’t Fall) involving nearly 1,200 seniors in the municipalities of Angra do Heroísmo and Santa Cruz da Graciosa, the project “Tentações Saudáveis” (Healthy Temptations) aiming to introduce a healthy menu in Azorean restaurants and the project “Enfermeiro de Família” (Nurse Practitioner) which is being implemented in Vila Franca do Campo.
The latter has registered surprising results since nearly 4,300 nursing consultations have taken place in only four months in the areas of Maternal Health, Child Health, Adult Health and Family Planning, which is clearly demonstrated by the motivation of the health professionals involved in the project and the satisfaction of patients.

Community Nursing aims to assist individuals, families, groups and communities at risk through strategic planning in the area of Health, which is carried out by implementing programmes and projects whose main purpose is to promote Health. In this context, the involvement of people and community participation are crucial to achieve new levels of quality in the provision of Health services.

The Regional Secretary for Health concluded his speech by drawing attention to the importance of objectively assessing the satisfaction of patients as we can only adapt or change the guidelines stipulated for the sector by hearing people so that we may achieve increasing participatory policies.