Vaiva Balčiūnienė, a lecturer at the Lithuanian Sports University (LSU), visited the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD, Portugal), where she participated as a guest lecturer in the “YOUNG(in) Mental Health” project, aimed at strengthening students’ mental health and promoting well-being in the university environment.
The project is coordinated by Prof. Catarina Pinheiro Mota, a clinical psychologist and professor in the Department of Education and Psychology at UTAD. The initiative focuses on promoting psychological well-being among university students, preventing mental health difficulties, and ensuring their early identification within the academic environment. The project is part of the national programme for the promotion of mental health in higher education in Portugal and is supported by the Portuguese Government and the Directorate-General for Higher Education (Direção-Geral do Ensino Superior). The project is based on a participatory methodology, actively involving students in mental health promotion initiatives. It also applies a multi-level support model that includes mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention measures. Project activities include monitoring student well-being, mentoring and tutoring initiatives, physical activity and wellness programmes, and cooperation with student organisations.
During the visit, the LSU lecturer delivered a seminar titled “Body Image and Health-Related Lifestyle: From Daily Behaviors to Eating Disorder Risk,” which explored the relationship between body image perception, everyday lifestyle behaviours, and health-related habits, as well as their potential link to the risk of eating disorders. The seminar was organised by Graça Sofia Monteiro Pinto, a lecturer in the Department of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at UTAD and a researcher in the field of sport and health sciences.
Participation in the project provided an opportunity to share LSU’s academic experience, discuss potential areas for future collaboration, and strengthen ties between UTAD and LSU in the fields of student well-being and mental health research.
More information about the project:
https://www.utad.pt/sm/en/projeto-youngin_mental_health_utad/
