The Sports Medicine Center at Hospital da Luz Lisboa focuses on preventing and treating problems related to physical activity (PA), exercise, and sports in people of all ages, whether amateur or professional. The Center also promotes health-improving activities for inactive individuals and those with chronic diseases. The team includes doctors, physiotherapists, nutritionists, exercise physiologists, and psychologists who work together based on the latest scientific evidence and the individual needs of those who seek their care.
The Center is headed by José Pedro Marques, MD, a specialist in sports and exercise medicine, with the assistance of physiotherapist Cecília Igrejas, MSc, and exercise physiologist Hugo Vieira Pereira, PhD. Patients are offered a multidisciplinary approach to medical, physical, nutritional, and psychological evaluations, diagnosis, counselling, and rehabilitation programs for sports.
The existence of multiple services dedicated to PA in hospitals is a significant advance in clinical practice, allowing PA to be systematically integrated into patient care and considered as a standard of practice. By routinely assessing PA levels and adopting appropriate interventions, healthcare professionals can significantly contribute to healthier lifestyles and mitigate the impact of chronic diseases. Following are some of the many programs supporting our patients to be more physically active:
- LuzAtiva: a comprehensive PA promotion program for hospital staff that systematically addresses individual, social, and environmental factors influencing PA behavior. Systematic monitoring of PA behaviors (interviews and surveys) assesses program effectiveness and identifies areas for improvement.
- DR4EP: a PA referral program that analyzes barriers, facilitators, and prevailing practices related to exercise referral as perceived by both healthcare professionals and exercise specialists. DR4EP aims to develop and evaluate a digital intervention designed to improve physician referral practices for PA.
- Exercise, Health and Performance in Women’s Health: the promotion of PA, exercise, and sports at all stages of life, from youth through childbearing age and menopause. The focus is to empower women, encouraging participation in different forms of PA and helping them live a healthier life, both physically and mentally. The program aims to enhance women’s overall well-being through educational resources, training programs, and supportive environments.
- Teen&Fit: an interdisciplinary and comprehensive self-management health program designed to support young people facing obesity-related challenges. Teen&Fit integrates multiple health disciplines to offer effective strategies to manage weight, improve overall health, and promote positive lifestyle changes. Teen&Fit recently enrolled a second cohort of participants with plans to systematically evaluate program effectiveness.
- Phase III Exercise Regimens: to further improve the health and fitness of cardiac rehabilitation patients as they transition to independent exercise. This comprehensive approach has been validated through multiple reviews and cohort studies and we are currently preparing detailed reports on our findings to share with the medical community and stakeholders.
- Type 2 Diabetes Program: a comprehensive and structured exercise regimen designed for people with type 2 diabetes. This recently launched program helps patients manage their diabetes more effectively through PA, which is crucial for improving blood sugar levels, overall health, and reducing the risk of complications associated with diabetes.
- ACTIFit®: an innovative tool for healthcare professionals is currently being pilot tested. The tool facilitates the prescription of personalized exercise regimens to meet the unique needs and conditions of patients. Through this application, healthcare professionals can improve their exercise prescriptions and ensure personalization based on individual health profiles and goals.
- Three other preventive medicine programs are currently completing pilot testing: smoking cessation, weight control and exercise promotion. These initiatives include consultations and sessions with different professionals, namely doctors, psychologists, nutritionists and exercise physiologists, as well as additional sessions through web- and text-based platforms. The implementation of integrated patient monitoring software makes it easier to share information and reporting among healthcare professionals. Integration of wearable technology into patient records is essential for comprehensive data management.
We are very proud of the significant contributions and extensive work of the Center of Sports Medicine at the Hospital da Luz Lisboa. Our work and dedication encompasses several projects that aim to innovate and improve processes within our organization. We look forward to witnessing the positive results of this work in the coming years, which will greatly increase our impact and effectiveness.
