Browsing by Author "Fernandes, Ana"
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- Effects of dignity therapy on dignity and spiritual well-being in people with advanced cancer: study protocol for a randomized controlled trialPublication . Yanez, Romel; Fernandes, Ana; Sousa, Maria de; Abreu, Cinara; Alcantara, Roberta de; Guimarães, Maria; Cunha, Meire da; Magalhães, Luciana; Brito, Amalia de; Gomes, Matheus; Medeiros, Natacha de; Castro, Régia; Sixsmith, Judith; Paiva, Bianca; Torres, Débora; Johnston, Bridget; Laranjeira, CarlosBackground Dignity Therapy is a person-centered psychotherapeutic intervention designed for people approaching the end of life, fostering reflection on meaningful aspects of life and creating a testimonial legacy. Since 2011, randomized trials have demonstrated its value in addressing psychospiritual needs and preserving dignity in palliative care. However, no controlled studies have been conducted in Latin America to assess its effectiveness within local cultural contexts. Methods This is a protocol for an exploratory, randomized, parallel-group clinical trial (1:1 allocation) with an open-label design. A total of 96 hospitalized individuals with advanced cancer will participate, all receiving care from the Palliative Care Service of a university hospital in Fortaleza, Brazil. The control group will receive usual palliative care, while the intervention group will receive the same care along with Dignity Therapy, delivered in three structured sessions. Assessments will be conducted at baseline (T1), at the end of the intervention (T2), and short-term follow-up (T3). The primary outcome will be the perceived dignity impact of the intervention, measured by the Dignity Impact Scale. Secondary outcomes will include spiritual well-being, hope, anxiety, depression, and distress. Perceptions of the intervention experience will also be collected from individuals in the intervention group. The primary analysis will be performed using linear mixed models. Discussion This trial will provide evidence on the feasibility and potential benefits of Dignity Therapy in supporting dignity and spiritual well-being among individuals with advanced cancer, while also examining how the intervention performs within distinct cultural contexts that may shape perceptions of dignity and end-of-life care. Trial registration Registro Brasileiro de Ensaios Clínicos (ReBEC), RBR-8r3vzw5. Registered on 13 October 2025.
- Psychosocial risk managementPublication . Fernandes, Ana; Figueiredo, Margarida; Ávidos, Liliana; Ribeiro, Jorge; Vicente, Dinis; Neves, José; Vicente, HenriqueA number of guidelines for Psychosocial Risk Management in organizations have been proposed in recent decades; however, some reviews on the subject also highlights that the terms Stress and Psychosocial Risks (PRs) are not mentioned explicitly in most pieces of legislation, leading to lack of clarity on the terminology used. To improve the way of dealing with this type of vulnerability and to allow organizations to successfully manage PRs, this work proposes and characterizes a workable problem-solving method in which the PRs can be evaluated for the entropy they generate within the organization. The analysis and development of such a system is based on a series of logical formalisms for Knowledge Representation and Reasoning that are grounded on Logic Programming, complemented with an Artificial Neural Network approach to computing.
- Social Role in Organizational Management Understanding People Behavior and MotivationPublication . Maia, Nuno; Neves, Mariana; Barbosa, Agostinho; Carrulo, Bruno; Araújo, Nuno; Fernandes, Ana; Vicente, Dinis; Ribeiro, Jorge; Vicente, Henrique; Neves, JoséThe aim of this work is to respond to the need to rethink the behavior and motivation of employees in their relationship with managers and social groups, i.e., one’s main goal is based on increasing engagement in order to reach organizational goals and job workers satisfaction, a complex concept that is influenced by different causes. Indeed, in this work it is analyzed the impact of working conditions on job satisfaction. This is where attention is drawn to the concept of entropy, since we are not focusing on the value a variable can take, but on the effort that has been expended to obtain it. The idea of entropy comes from a principle of thermodynamics dealing with energy. It usually refers to the idea that everything in the universe eventually moves from order to disorder, and entropy is the measurement of that change, that is used here to understand and assess the workers behavior and motivation. The subsequent formal model is based on a set of logical structures for knowledge representation and reasoning that conform to the above entropic view, then leading to an Artificial Neural Network approach to computation, an archetypal that considers the motive behind the action.