At the Porto campus of the Catholic University of Portugal, students, professors, experts, members of the Rectoral Team, directors of academic units and partners gathered for the event “UCP2 Mental Health: What is changing in mental health and well-being at the Catholic University?”
Under the theme “What can we do now?”, Margarida Gaspar de Matos, Professor at the Faculty of Human Sciences, emphasised that taking care of mental health means preventing, promoting, and acting as a community. In her address, she offered concrete recommendations – from creating healthier ecosystems to investing in socio-emotional skills.
The following discussion brought to the stage three voices from student leadership: Carolina Mano (FCH-UCP Lisbon), Inês Reis (FEP-UCP Porto) and Afonso Oliveira (FD-UCP Porto). Each shared their experiences and concerns, showing that talking about mental health is, above all, about giving space to the real challenges students face.
In the UCP Students’ Voices panel, Matilde Marques (FEP-UCP Porto) and Leonor Esteves (IGOS-UCP Viseu) highlighted that “students are not merely recipients, but active participants in building solutions”, underlining the importance of involving students.
During the event, new initiatives to promote mental health and well-being were also presented, to be implemented this semester:
- Workshops on Mental Health Literacy and Psychological First Aid, addressing topics such as academic anxiety, positive body image, panic attacks, and academic burnout;
- UCP2 Be, a soft skills development programme for first-year students, currently in a pilot phase in Porto and Lisbon;
- Pro-Stress Course, comprising 45 hours dedicated to managing academic stress;
- UCP Students’ Voices, an advisory panel ensuring the continuous inclusion of student perspectives in the definition of institutional strategies.
The event concluded with the signing of cooperation agreements with Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Porto, Casa de Saúde da Boavista and Associação Recovery IPSS, strengthening the network of partners working with Universidade Católica to promote students’ mental health. The network also includes the Centro de Solidariedade de Braga/Projeto Homem and JS Clínica Médica.