Psychotic disorders are strongly linked to a higher risk of mandatory hospitalization, often affecting men more, though some studies report the opposite. Recent investigations also show a higher rate of involuntary admissions in younger individuals. Knowledge in this area is still limited despite extensive research.

Analyze whether there is an association between sex and age with involuntary admissions of individuals with psychotic disorders.

Retrospectively, 254 people with psychotic disorders admitted between 2018-2023 to the adult psychiatric inpatient unit at Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol were selected, collecting their nature of admission, sex, age, and discharge diagnosis. Comparisons between voluntary and involuntary admissions, with respect to sex and age variables, were conducted using independent sample t-tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, Fisher’s exact test, and chi-square tests. A logistic regression model was used to identify variables significantly associated with mandatory admission.

In both the male and female groups, there were no statistically significant differences in terms of the mean age at admission (p = 0.162) or the nature of admission (p = 0.586) (Table 1). When analyzing the voluntary nature of admission based on age and sex, statistically significant differences were only found in the female group (p = 0.01), resulting in a 9.18 year age difference among those admitted voluntarily (Table 2). The model that best predicted the probability of involuntary admission in individuals with psychotic disorders included the sex variable (OR = 4.88) and the interaction between sex and age (OR = 0.97) (Table 3).Table 1:

Differences between sex regarding voluntariness of patients with psychotic disorders.

Young women with psychotic disorders face a higher risk of involuntary admissions, emphasizing the need for gender-specific strategies to improve care of these patients.

None Declared

Mental health resilience is crucial to professional wellbeing and productivity, being that 57% of company employees are reporting burnout. Additionally, early-stage preventive mental health interventions are not common, and typically employees only have access to mid-stage professional care.

The aim of this project is to provide employees with a preventive self-coping tool, enabling open and inclusive care. Specifically, the aim is to assess the receptivity, usability and impact of the usage of a mobile app that provides coping strategies based on positive psychology and a burnout-risk screening.

A mobile app was used with the purpose of being accessible to everyone, independently of their financial capacity. The app also promotes inclusiveness, by aggregating several approaches and methods for mental health coping, which are recommended given the needs of each user. The app was released to a large Portuguese company with 700 employees, in which employees could download it voluntarily.

After 7 months, the results showed 37% receptivity rate, 24% improvement on anxiety levels, 36% improvement on workplace wellbeing, 23% increase on mental health self-coping skills, and 21% improvement on burnout-risk levels. These metrics were acquired via app’s back-end, self-reporting, and our model for burnout-risk screening.

First results showcase the positive impact of adding such a mobile solution to the employees’ mental healthcare. Next steps will be conducting a longer study, adding control groups and productivity assessment.

None Declared

The Residential Educational Therapeutic Unit Accompany from Hospital Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona, is a device integrated into the public health network, intended for the comprehensive care of children and adolescents under 18 years of age who suffer from an illness complex mental disorder, at serious risk of becoming chronic and generating significant disabilities at a functional, cognitive and emotional level. It was a result from a joint venture between the Department of Social Rights and the Department of Health. The device was created to respond to the increase in behavioral problems and mental health disorders of children underguardianship.

General Objective

To improve the quality of life in the physical, mental and social spheres of vulnerable children and adolescents with serious complex mental pathology through a biopsychosocial and community care model that integrates health, social, family and educational care and which is aimed at the recovery of the person’s life project.

Specific Objectives

To offer intensive intervention, personalized and in a co-responsible manner, that is to say, that integrates the therapeutic, education, social services and child protection teams.

Promote the community and social reintegration avoiding stigmatization and social exclusion.

Improve the intra-family relationship and the burden perceived by caregivers.

Decrease the number of renunciations of parental authority of a minor.

The unit has a capacity for 28 beds: 23 places for children/adolescents underguardianship of the administration and 5 places for cases that are at risk of family claudication due to their therapeutic and educational needs.

There are 5 coexisting therapeutic units. The apartments are referred as ‘homes’ and their organization is designed to encourage the active participation of residents with the professionals who attend them.

The Unit has a multidisciplinary team made up of the following professionals: Psychyatrists, Nurses, clinical psychologists, Social Workers, Educational worker, nursing assistants, administrative.

- 110 children and adolescents have been taken care, with an average cumulative stay of 13 months. In all cases in which the family had the guardianship of the patient, family claudication has been avoided There is a 36% discharge of those patients under guardian that have returned to their original family home 100% of the cases have been linked to an educational center adapted to their needs or to a training project

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Overall, the care model implemented by the population served in the Acompanya’m unit is positively evaluated. Since it provides an intensive and personalized care, treatment and intervention for children suffering from a serious mental disorder of high complexity. A comprehensive, personalized, interdisciplinary approach is offered, coordinated and co-responsible with educational, protection and social services.

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Craniofacial surgery is a specialized field that addresses congenital and acquired deformities of the head and face. While the physical outcomes of craniofacial surgery are well-documented, less attention has been given to the psychological well-being of adult patients. This abstract aims to explore self-esteem issues among adult patients treated at the Craniofacial Surgery Sector of HCPA (Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre), where a substantial proportion of adult patients have reported self-esteem problems.

1. 1. To assess the prevalence of self-esteem issues among adult patients (≥18 years old) attending the HCPA Craniofacial Surgery Sector.

2. 2. To examine potential contributing factors to self-esteem problems in this specific patient population.

3. 3. To evaluate the impact of self-esteem on the mental health and psychosocial functioning of adult craniofacial surgery patients.

4. 4. To propose recommendations for psychosocial support and intervention strategies tailored to the needs of adult patients in this context.

This cross-sectional study involved 132 adult patients who had undergone or were scheduled for craniofacial surgery at HCPA. Participants reported self-esteem issues in their talk with the hospital’s physicians, and their medical records were reviewed to collect demographic and clinical data. Additionally, participants provided information about their mental health status and psychosocial functioning.

Among the 39 adult patients included in the study, 37 (94.9%) reported experiencing self-esteem issues, such as lack of confidence or feeling unattractive. The most commonly reported contributing factors were visible facial differences, social interactions, and prior surgical experiences. Patients with lower self-esteem had a higher likelihood of reporting symptoms of depression and anxiety and reported lower overall psychosocial functioning compared to those with higher self-esteem.

This reveals a strikingly high prevalence of self-esteem issues among adult patients attending the Craniofacial Surgery Sector at HCPA. These findings underscore the importance of recognizing and addressing the psychological well-being of adult craniofacial surgery patients. Comprehensive psychosocial support, including counseling, peer support, and interventions to enhance self-esteem, should be integrated into the care of these patients. By addressing self-esteem concerns, healthcare providers can improve the mental health and overall quality of life of adult craniofacial surgery patients.

None Declared

One of the most common somatic responses of the human body to a mental health issue consists of alterations of the breathing rate. Typically, when an individual is under stress, tends to have a more rapid shallow breathing - instead of resorting to the diaphragm to help the air in and out the lungs, ends up conducting a thoracic breathing, leading to extended fatigue or dizziness.

The aim of this project is to assess the accuracy and efficacy of measuring the breathing rate through abdominal breathing movements, via the smartphone’s sensors, and applying it to personalize a digitized diaphragmatic breathing strategy. The main hypothesis under testing is that the digitization of this strategy with the personalization to the subject’s own response is efficient as a valuable tool for mental health coping.

A tool was developed and integrated with a mobile app that aggregates mental health coping strategies, based on the digitalization of positive psychology techniques. The tool included the diaphragmatic breathing exercise and the personalization to the user through biofeedback. Such biofeedback was based on the user’s abdominal movements and directly impacted the course of the strategy. The tool is under testing, counting so far with 25 subjects resident in Portugal.

The usability and effectiveness metrics of the solution will be assessed on the first contact of the subject with the app, and segmented by different subject profiles. Mental health metrics will also be assessed, namely anxiety levels - using the smartphone sensors and standard psychiatric scales. The results will be compared with a control group, in which the subjects will only perform the self-assessment, without using the breathing exercise.

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We have yet to draw conclusions from the project; however, we aim to achieve the first results in due time.

None Declared

Due to the Covid-19 effects, mental health conditions are now, more than ever, affecting our daily lives - both personally and professionally. The average delay between the onset of first symptoms of a mental health disorder and seeking suitable healthcare is 11 years. The WHO states that the only sustainable way to reduce mental healthcare burden is by acting earlier.

The aim of this project is to assess the receptivity and engagement of a mobile app for mental health prevention, amongst a large-scale and heterogeneous group of individuals. The main hypothesis under testing is that people are receptive to actively act towards mental health prevention, despite still being a very neglected and stigmatized topic.

A mobile app for mental health improvement and disease prevention was developed through the digitalization of positive psychology strategies, such as mood tracking, journaling, breathing exercises, among others, which are personalized to the user through biofeedback. The app aims at teaching people how to autonomously cope with mental health conditions, identifying early signs and redirecting them to proper mental health professionals. The app is being released for a population of 35,000 subjects resident in Portugal.

Receptivity and engagement metrics will be assessed on a weekly and monthly basis, for 3 months, segmented by different subject profiles. Mental health metrics will also be assessed, namely anxiety, depression, and burnout levels - using standard psychiatric scales.

We have yet to draw conclusions from the project; however, we aim to achieve first results in due time.

The aim of this research is to assess the receptivity of mental health prevention strategies using technology, namely a mobile app provided by a company.

One of the issues that has increasingly become relevant to medical practice is the ability to communicate well with patients. Better communication results in better care for the patient, as well as greater satisfaction for the physician. For this reason, the aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a communication skills training program for medical residents (MR).

Eighty-six MR underwent a 6-month training program in three phases: a 12-h theory and practice workshop, a period of real practice, and a 4-h workshop in which the most challenging scenarios were role played with an actress. In each phase (T0, T1, and T2), participants’ beliefs about their competence in caring for patients’ psychosocial aspects and their self-confidence in communication skills were assessed.

No differences were found between T0 and T1 in participants’ beliefs of self-competence in psychosocial care. However, this competence significantly improved after completion of the entire program. Only 7 of the 12 areas explored in communication skills significantly improved between T0 and T1. However, after T2 completion, significant improvements were observed in all 12 areas.

The research results highlight the usefulness and importance of training young doctors to foster their psychosocial approach to patient care and improve their confidence in their own communication skills. The results also show the appropriateness of the structure of the training: the key features of the programme were the follow-up of the participants in three phases over 6 months, and a focus on the needs of the residents and the resolution of difficult clinical cases, with the support of an actress. Therefore, the training presented in this study may become a guide for other trainings in other contexts with similar objectives.