One thousand four-hundred thirty Portuguese psychologists answered a questionnaire that had been ... more One thousand four-hundred thirty Portuguese psychologists answered a questionnaire that had been designed in order to ascertain the level of acceptability of a set of proposed ethical principles, which subsequently served as a basis for the Portuguese Psychologists' Ethics Code. On the one hand, the results show that, as expected, the ethical principles rated high on the evaluation scale. On the other hand, the results also highlighted the need for a formal regulation of the practice of psychology in Portugal, especially in view of participants' noticeable failure to recognize the importance of the principle of professional integrity. The responsibility of psychologists in modern societies is huge. As such, the large number of different training programs in Portugal, and the implied lack of a strong professional identity, is a cause of concern. The creation of a professional association allows an external identification of the profession in terms of aims and methods. The main goal of such an association is to promote public trust and enhance public demand. The results also indicate that training and experience lead to a higher valorization of ethical principles, and this is an insight that will be of great importance to the professional practice of psychology.
Awareness of ethics codes and professional guidelines is crucial to a professional role in psycho... more Awareness of ethics codes and professional guidelines is crucial to a professional role in psychotherapy practice. Psychotherapy practice is increasingly heterogeneous, and there is much discussion about their effectiveness for clients. In some countries, psychotherapy is an autonomous profession. In others, is part of the professional features of psychologists and psychiatrists, and it is possible to find other health professionals working as psychotherapists in some countries. Considering that ethical principles are central to the performance of a profession, we intend to find connections between the ethical principles for psychotherapists and psychologists or psychiatrists. A critical review was done to promote an integrative vision of ethics codes in psychotherapy. Content analysis of the ethics codes in psychotherapy was performed. Confidentiality, competence, and integrity were the principles more frequently found. Psychotherapists seem to have a major concern with interpersonal relationships and are less linked to social responsibility.
Professional identity is formed by combination of several aspects, including professional practic... more Professional identity is formed by combination of several aspects, including professional practice, which for psychologists relates to psychological intervention and performed functions. The exclusive goal of psychological intervention and exclusively performed functions of psychologists are an important research subjects because more and more practicing professionals are performing activities linked to psychological intervention. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the exclusive goal of psychological intervention and exclusively performed functions of Latvian psychologists. Data was collected through an online survey developed in the framework of the international project "The Identity of Psychology" [1]. Three open-answer questions were used. Sample consisted of 54 Latvian psychologists of which 91% were women (n = 49) and 9 % were men (n = 5) aged from 25 to 60 years (M = 44.94; SD = 8.98). Data was analysed using thematic categorical content analysis. Findings indicate clear diversity in the opinion about the professional practice among Latvian psychologists. The results of this study indicate limited agreement and comprehension of Latvian psychologists about their professional practice which leads to necessity for further research to investigate the causes of such outcome to determine solutions on how to strengthen their professional practice and, more broadly, professional identity.
In the literature Informed consent (IC) assumptions is well established. However, the different s... more In the literature Informed consent (IC) assumptions is well established. However, the different stages and the conditions under which the IC for anesthetic practices is obtained, is scarce. The aim of the present study is to explore the phases and conditions of IC in anesthesiology. Anonymized clinical records of 325 patients submitted to anesthetic procedures at the Institute of Oncology of Porto were analyzed. A total agreement between the anesthetic techniques established in the IC and those performed, was reach with 270 patients. The importance of IC in clinical practice is discussed and an ideal process for IC is argued.
We present the VREthics application that enables immersive training in ethical decision making of... more We present the VREthics application that enables immersive training in ethical decision making of internship psychologist. The development of this app is supported on theoretical information regarding best practices for ethics decisions in Psychology and technological issues concerning the system design. Eleven internship psychologists tested the VREthics and were questioned about their subjective assessment of the app, the VR training experience and its impact on the learning process. They reported a positive appreciation of both the VR training experience (43.52%) and of the impact on their training (31.98%). The most referenced characteristic is related to the realism and interactivity of the case, allowing them a sense of presence. Results are accordingly to the scarce literature and suggest that the VR training can be an important resource for practical learning, providing an educational context close to the real, interactive and engaging context. Therefore, the use of technological tools, more specifically VR, should be integrated in the psychologists skills´ training of the utmost relevance to practice, namely in ethical decision-making. The next steps will be to implement VREthics in the initial training plan for internship psychologists at the Portuguese Psychologists Association, being a differentiating tool in their training that allows a more practical and interactive level of access to fundamental theoretical concepts.
Revista de Estudios e Investigación en Psicología y Educación, 2017
A necessidade de compreender o core básico da intervenção psicológica tem ganho relevância nas ma... more A necessidade de compreender o core básico da intervenção psicológica tem ganho relevância nas mais recentes décadas. Este panorama surgiu a partir das numerosas mudanças que ocorreram na formação dos psicólogos, nas perspetivas profissionais, e também, dada a expansão do mercado de trabalho. Tais considerações devem fazer-nos refletir sobre a identidade profissional dos psicólogos no presente e, consequentemente, sobre a identidade da Psicologia como área científica. Assim, o presente poster apresenta uma revisão sistemática da literatura das principais considerações obtidas. Todas as fases envolvidas no desenvolvimento desta revisão sistemática da literatura são sistematizadas e os seus principais resultados são apresentados.
Context: The European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines on urinary incontinence published i... more Context: The European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines on urinary incontinence published in March 2012 have been rewritten based on an independent systematic review carried out by the EAU guidelines panel using a sustainable methodology. Objective: We present a short version here of the full guidelines on the surgical treatment of patients with urinary incontinence, with the aim of dissemination to a wider audience. Evidence acquisition: Evidence appraisal included a pragmatic review of existing systematic reviews and independent new literature searches based on Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome (PICO) questions. The appraisal of papers was carried out by an international panel of experts, who also collaborated in a series of consensus discussions, to develop concise structured evidence summaries and action-based recommendations using a modified Oxford system. Evidence summary: The full version of the guidance is available online (www.uroweb. org/guidelines/online-guidelines/). The guidance includes algorithms that refer the reader back to the supporting evidence and have greater accessibility in daily clinical practice. Two original meta-analyses were carried out specifically for these guidelines and are included in this report. Conclusions: These new guidelines present an up-to-date summary of the available evidence, together with clear clinical algorithms and action-based recommendations based on the best available evidence. Where high-level evidence is lacking, they present a consensus of expert panel opinion.
Background: Conscientious objection (CO) in the context of health care arises when a health care ... more Background: Conscientious objection (CO) in the context of health care arises when a health care professional (HCP) refuses to participate in a certain procedure because it is not compatible with their ethical or moral principles. Refusal to treat in health care includes, in addition to CO, other factors that may lead the HCP not to want to participate in a certain procedure. Therefore, we can say that CO is a form of refusal of treatment based on conscience. Hastened death has become an increasingly reality around the world, being a procedure in which not all HCPs are willing to participate. There are several factors that can condition the HCPs’ refusal to treat in this scenario. Methods: With the aim of identifying these factors, we performed a systematic review, following the PRISMA guidelines. On 1 October 2022, we searched for relevant articles on Pubmed, Web of Science and Scopus databases. Results: From an initial search of 693 articles, 12 were included in the final analysis...
The Journal of medicine and philosophy, Jan 13, 2017
Ethical principles are fundamental for the exercise of any profession. Portuguese psychologists h... more Ethical principles are fundamental for the exercise of any profession. Portuguese psychologists have waited for 30 years for professional validation. This paper will define the Portuguese psychologists' ethical principles, with a universal view as a starting point and then an adaptation to the cultural and professional reality in Portugal. The level of acceptability of these principles will be ascertained in a later paper.
One thousand four-hundred thirty Portuguese psychologists answered a questionnaire that had been ... more One thousand four-hundred thirty Portuguese psychologists answered a questionnaire that had been designed in order to ascertain the level of acceptability of a set of proposed ethical principles, which subsequently served as a basis for the Portuguese Psychologists' Ethics Code. On the one hand, the results show that, as expected, the ethical principles rated high on the evaluation scale. On the other hand, the results also highlighted the need for a formal regulation of the practice of psychology in Portugal, especially in view of participants' noticeable failure to recognize the importance of the principle of professional integrity. The responsibility of psychologists in modern societies is huge. As such, the large number of different training programs in Portugal, and the implied lack of a strong professional identity, is a cause of concern. The creation of a professional association allows an external identification of the profession in terms of aims and methods. The main goal of such an association is to promote public trust and enhance public demand. The results also indicate that training and experience lead to a higher valorization of ethical principles, and this is an insight that will be of great importance to the professional practice of psychology.
Awareness of ethics codes and professional guidelines is crucial to a professional role in psycho... more Awareness of ethics codes and professional guidelines is crucial to a professional role in psychotherapy practice. Psychotherapy practice is increasingly heterogeneous, and there is much discussion about their effectiveness for clients. In some countries, psychotherapy is an autonomous profession. In others, is part of the professional features of psychologists and psychiatrists, and it is possible to find other health professionals working as psychotherapists in some countries. Considering that ethical principles are central to the performance of a profession, we intend to find connections between the ethical principles for psychotherapists and psychologists or psychiatrists. A critical review was done to promote an integrative vision of ethics codes in psychotherapy. Content analysis of the ethics codes in psychotherapy was performed. Confidentiality, competence, and integrity were the principles more frequently found. Psychotherapists seem to have a major concern with interpersonal relationships and are less linked to social responsibility.
Professional identity is formed by combination of several aspects, including professional practic... more Professional identity is formed by combination of several aspects, including professional practice, which for psychologists relates to psychological intervention and performed functions. The exclusive goal of psychological intervention and exclusively performed functions of psychologists are an important research subjects because more and more practicing professionals are performing activities linked to psychological intervention. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the exclusive goal of psychological intervention and exclusively performed functions of Latvian psychologists. Data was collected through an online survey developed in the framework of the international project "The Identity of Psychology" [1]. Three open-answer questions were used. Sample consisted of 54 Latvian psychologists of which 91% were women (n = 49) and 9 % were men (n = 5) aged from 25 to 60 years (M = 44.94; SD = 8.98). Data was analysed using thematic categorical content analysis. Findings indicate clear diversity in the opinion about the professional practice among Latvian psychologists. The results of this study indicate limited agreement and comprehension of Latvian psychologists about their professional practice which leads to necessity for further research to investigate the causes of such outcome to determine solutions on how to strengthen their professional practice and, more broadly, professional identity.
In the literature Informed consent (IC) assumptions is well established. However, the different s... more In the literature Informed consent (IC) assumptions is well established. However, the different stages and the conditions under which the IC for anesthetic practices is obtained, is scarce. The aim of the present study is to explore the phases and conditions of IC in anesthesiology. Anonymized clinical records of 325 patients submitted to anesthetic procedures at the Institute of Oncology of Porto were analyzed. A total agreement between the anesthetic techniques established in the IC and those performed, was reach with 270 patients. The importance of IC in clinical practice is discussed and an ideal process for IC is argued.
We present the VREthics application that enables immersive training in ethical decision making of... more We present the VREthics application that enables immersive training in ethical decision making of internship psychologist. The development of this app is supported on theoretical information regarding best practices for ethics decisions in Psychology and technological issues concerning the system design. Eleven internship psychologists tested the VREthics and were questioned about their subjective assessment of the app, the VR training experience and its impact on the learning process. They reported a positive appreciation of both the VR training experience (43.52%) and of the impact on their training (31.98%). The most referenced characteristic is related to the realism and interactivity of the case, allowing them a sense of presence. Results are accordingly to the scarce literature and suggest that the VR training can be an important resource for practical learning, providing an educational context close to the real, interactive and engaging context. Therefore, the use of technological tools, more specifically VR, should be integrated in the psychologists skills´ training of the utmost relevance to practice, namely in ethical decision-making. The next steps will be to implement VREthics in the initial training plan for internship psychologists at the Portuguese Psychologists Association, being a differentiating tool in their training that allows a more practical and interactive level of access to fundamental theoretical concepts.
Revista de Estudios e Investigación en Psicología y Educación, 2017
A necessidade de compreender o core básico da intervenção psicológica tem ganho relevância nas ma... more A necessidade de compreender o core básico da intervenção psicológica tem ganho relevância nas mais recentes décadas. Este panorama surgiu a partir das numerosas mudanças que ocorreram na formação dos psicólogos, nas perspetivas profissionais, e também, dada a expansão do mercado de trabalho. Tais considerações devem fazer-nos refletir sobre a identidade profissional dos psicólogos no presente e, consequentemente, sobre a identidade da Psicologia como área científica. Assim, o presente poster apresenta uma revisão sistemática da literatura das principais considerações obtidas. Todas as fases envolvidas no desenvolvimento desta revisão sistemática da literatura são sistematizadas e os seus principais resultados são apresentados.
Context: The European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines on urinary incontinence published i... more Context: The European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines on urinary incontinence published in March 2012 have been rewritten based on an independent systematic review carried out by the EAU guidelines panel using a sustainable methodology. Objective: We present a short version here of the full guidelines on the surgical treatment of patients with urinary incontinence, with the aim of dissemination to a wider audience. Evidence acquisition: Evidence appraisal included a pragmatic review of existing systematic reviews and independent new literature searches based on Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome (PICO) questions. The appraisal of papers was carried out by an international panel of experts, who also collaborated in a series of consensus discussions, to develop concise structured evidence summaries and action-based recommendations using a modified Oxford system. Evidence summary: The full version of the guidance is available online (www.uroweb. org/guidelines/online-guidelines/). The guidance includes algorithms that refer the reader back to the supporting evidence and have greater accessibility in daily clinical practice. Two original meta-analyses were carried out specifically for these guidelines and are included in this report. Conclusions: These new guidelines present an up-to-date summary of the available evidence, together with clear clinical algorithms and action-based recommendations based on the best available evidence. Where high-level evidence is lacking, they present a consensus of expert panel opinion.
Background: Conscientious objection (CO) in the context of health care arises when a health care ... more Background: Conscientious objection (CO) in the context of health care arises when a health care professional (HCP) refuses to participate in a certain procedure because it is not compatible with their ethical or moral principles. Refusal to treat in health care includes, in addition to CO, other factors that may lead the HCP not to want to participate in a certain procedure. Therefore, we can say that CO is a form of refusal of treatment based on conscience. Hastened death has become an increasingly reality around the world, being a procedure in which not all HCPs are willing to participate. There are several factors that can condition the HCPs’ refusal to treat in this scenario. Methods: With the aim of identifying these factors, we performed a systematic review, following the PRISMA guidelines. On 1 October 2022, we searched for relevant articles on Pubmed, Web of Science and Scopus databases. Results: From an initial search of 693 articles, 12 were included in the final analysis...
The Journal of medicine and philosophy, Jan 13, 2017
Ethical principles are fundamental for the exercise of any profession. Portuguese psychologists h... more Ethical principles are fundamental for the exercise of any profession. Portuguese psychologists have waited for 30 years for professional validation. This paper will define the Portuguese psychologists' ethical principles, with a universal view as a starting point and then an adaptation to the cultural and professional reality in Portugal. The level of acceptability of these principles will be ascertained in a later paper.
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Papers by Miguel Ricou