Deborah Oyine Aluh wins the João Monjardino Prize 2023

The winner of the 2023 edition of the João Monjardino Prize, Deborah Oyine Aluh, is the author of the article Contextual factors influencing the use of coercive measures in Portuguese mental health care, published in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry on August 3, 2023.

The study aimed to explore the perspectives of mental health professionals who have first-hand experience with the use of coercion and the contextual factors that influence the use of coercion in mental health care in Portugal. The work carried out, which was based on focus groups with 23 doctors and 17 nurses from five psychiatric services in urban and rural regions of Portugal, concluded that resolving existing systemic problems is crucial to the successful implementation of interventions aimed at reducing coercion in mental health care.

Deborah Oyine Aluh is a PhD student in the International Doctoral Program in Global Public Health offered by a consortium of four Portuguese public health institutions: NOVA's National School of Public Health, NOVA's Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and NOVA Medical School, and the University of Porto (Institute of Public Health/Faculty of Medicine). He is currently completing his doctoral research at the Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health, CHRC, Nova Medical School. She is a faculty member of the Lisbon International Learning Program on Mental Health Policies and Services and of the glossary working group in the EU COST Action, FOSTREN.

The João Monjardino Prize 2023, in its 3rd edition, was dedicated to the theme "Mental Health: Clinical and Services Research". This is an initiative of the Francisco Pulido Valente Foundation and the Foundation for Science and Technology that aims to stimulate research, experimental development and innovation in the field of Biomedical Sciences and Health, by recognizing the merit of scientific and technological activities carried out in this field. The award ceremony will be held on a date to be announced.