The President of the Ordem dos Psicólogos (OPP) was present at the 2nd National Congress of Continued Care which took place at Faculdade de Medicina Dentária, in Lisbon, last week.

Telmo Mourinho Baptista participated in the opening session and moderated the «Meeting between Peers: he Sharing of Experiences», where a group of professionals discussed the difficulties, needs and solutions for continued care in Portugal. The main difficulties found related mostly to the lack of time, training, intervention in the families of the patient, absence of support to the team of professionals, among others.

The solutions found include a commitment to the development of guidelines to guide the intervention of psychologists, through a manual of procedures and good practices; work with the family of the patient with some frequency, at least every fortnight, establish pain as an indicator of the quality of life and the quality of the care provided, work in terms of the team, so as to prevent burnout and increase cohesion, motivate a proactive attitude in the assertiveness of Psychology by publicising good practices and making their contribution known.

«Home Support», «Long Duration Units: Professional Motivation and Validation», «Palliative Needs» were some of the topics discussed at the two day event. The President of the Ordem dos Psicólogos (OPP) was part of the Scientific Committee and the Honours Committee of the Congress.