Between 27 June and 26 July 2026, Serena Brigidi, from Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV, Spain), carried out a secondment in Portugal within the framework of the European project IPOV – RESPECTFUL CARE, funded through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Staff Exchanges (MSCA-SE) programme under Horizon Europe.

The secondment was developed through collaboration between Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and UTERUS, Gimnográvida – Preparação Para Parto e Maternidade (GIMNO, Portugal), with Isabel Ferreira as host. These dates, institutions and roles are recorded in IPOV’s official secondment register.

Throughout the stay, Serena Brigidi carried out activities related to WP3 – Learning Scenario, obstetric care, women’s health, transformative practices, participatory methodologies, sound and soundscapes, audiovisual resources, art and design applied to health, rehabilitation and immersive technologies, as well as the history of healthcare practices.

The connection between these activities and WP3 is particularly important. Serena Brigidi leads WP3 within IPOV, which focuses on the development of the project’s Learning Scenario, and she has presented progress on WP3 and the IPOV e-learning course to the consortium.

Working on the WP3 Learning Scenario at UTERUS

Between 6 and 8 July, during activities carried out at UTERUS – Saúde Integrativa da Mulher in Porto, Serena Brigidi worked alongside Anna Maria Rossetti, Patrizia Quattrocchi and the host team on content related to the WP3 Learning Scenario.

The work focused on exploring transformative practices, privilege wheels and participatory learning methodologies aimed at fostering more respectful, equitable and person-centred maternity care.

This activity is directly connected to one of the outputs currently under development within the project. WP3 is dedicated to the Learning Scenario and the development of training resources. During the IPOV consortium meeting held in Lisbon in June 2026, Serena Brigidi presented progress on the e-learning course and also participated in a role-playing activity designed to explore innovative educational methodologies.

The presence of different consortium members during these activities also facilitated the exchange of perspectives between different organisations and professional profiles. Anna Maria Rossetti (SEAO, Italy) was undertaking a secondment at GIMNO from 8 June to 7 July, while Patrizia Quattrocchi (University of Udine, Italy) carried out her secondment there from 22 June to 15 July.

Looking, together with Isabel and Diana, for the sounds with which to create educational soundscapes about care. Listening to, recording, and transforming voices, silences, rhythms, and atmospheres into a learning tool that invites reflection on care, relationships, and the lived experience of receiving and providing care.

8 July: Creating Educational Soundscapes on Care

On 8 July, Serena Brigidi worked with Isabel Ferreira and Diana Lopes to identify sounds that could contribute to the creation of educational soundscapes on care.

The activity involved listening to, recording and transforming voices, silences, rhythms and atmospheres in order to explore their use as learning tools.

The purpose was to use these materials to encourage reflection on care, the relationships surrounding care and the lived experience of caregiving.

The use of sound broadens the range of educational tools explored within IPOV and provides a way of working with dimensions of the experience of care that can be approached through formats beyond conventional written or audiovisual resources.

9 July: Art, Science, Design and Medicine with Olga Noronha

On 9 July, Serena Brigidi met artist and researcher Olga Noronha at ObservatoriON, a space situated at the intersection of art, science, design and medicine.

The meeting explored Noronha’s work around Biofiligree®, a research line examining the relationships between biomaterials, prosthetics, aesthetics and healthcare.

Her work proposes innovative approaches to bodily repair by transforming medical devices into objects in which functionality, meaning and aesthetics can converge.

During the meeting, they exchanged ideas on how to place patients and users at the centre of design and innovation processes, paying particular attention to lived experience, participation and the aesthetic dimension of care.

The exchange therefore opened a space for reflection on the potential of art and design to generate new ways of thinking about health, the body and technology from interdisciplinary and person-centred perspectives.

Meeting with artist and researcher Olga Noronha at her ObservatoriON, a unique space where art, science, design, and medicine come together.

A sculptor and jewellery designer, Olga has developed an outstanding research line through the Biofiligree® project, exploring the intersections between biomaterials, prosthetics, aesthetics, and healthcare. Her work offers an innovative perspective on bodily repair, transforming medical devices into objects that combine functionality, meaning, and beauty.

During our meeting, we exchanged ideas on how to place patients at the centre of design and innovation processes, fostering approaches in which lived experience, participation, and the aesthetic dimension are recognised as essential components of care. It was an inspiring dialogue on the potential of art to open new ways of thinking about health, the body, and technology through a more human-centred and interdisciplinary lens.

12 July: Meeting with Dr Noémia Loio Marques

On 12 July, Serena Brigidi met with Dr Noémia Loio Marques, a specialist in Occupational Health and General Medicine, an expert in differential medicine and a member of CAPS – Centre d’Anàlisis i Programes Sanitaris.

The meeting formed part of the programme of professional and scientific exchanges carried out during the secondment.

As the secondment activity record does not specify the particular subjects discussed during this meeting, no additional thematic content should be attributed to it. Its inclusion should therefore be understood as part of the broader network of exchanges with professionals from different health-related fields developed during the stay.

How can maternity services be transformed? What does it take to implement new practices in hospital settings?
🤝 As part of the research secondment at UTERUS – Saúde Integrativa da Mulher, Serena Brigidi visited Famalicão Hospital, where she had the pleasure of being welcomed by Dr. Sarittas Nápoles, gynecologist.
🏥 The visit included a tour of the delivery rooms, creating an opportunity to exchange perspectives on care organization, team dynamics and the processes involved in implementing more respectful, woman-centered practices.
💬 Discussions addressed both the challenges and opportunities of transforming services, from adapting physical spaces to fostering new forms of support and shared decision-making.

13 July: Sound, Anthropology and Health

On 13 July, Serena Brigidi met Joäna Cristella (@osena.healing), a vocal mentor, music therapist and sound therapist.

The meeting focused specifically on soundscapes, the anthropology of sound in health, and the potential of sound as a tool for care, education and research.

The exchange continued the work undertaken during the secondment on the sonic dimension of care and its possible educational and research applications within IPOV.

🎧 What does care sound like? What can voices, silence, rhythms and sound environments teach us about health and healthcare experiences?

🤝 As part of her research secondment at UTERUS – Saúde Integrativa da Mulher in Portugal, Serena Brigidi, from Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain), hosted by Isabel Ferreira from UTERUS, had the pleasure of meeting Joäna Cristella (@osena.healing), vocal mentor, music therapist and sound therapist.

🔊 The meeting created an inspiring space to exchange ideas on soundscapes, the anthropology of sound in health, and the potential of sound as a tool for care, education and research.

13 July: Emotions, Audiovisual Language and Sexual and Reproductive Health

Also on 13 July, Serena Brigidi met videomaker Carol Goya.

The meeting focused on an exchange of ideas about emotions, audiovisual resources, and sexual and reproductive health.

They specifically explored the potential of audiovisual language as a tool for research, communication and education within the IPOV project.

This activity introduced a methodological reflection into the secondment on the possibilities offered by audiovisual formats in fields related to sexual and reproductive health.

As part of the research secondment at UTERUS – Saúde Integrativa da Mulher, Serena Brigidi met with videomaker Carol Goya to exchange ideas on emotions, audiovisual resources, and sexual and reproductive health.

The meeting explored the potential of audiovisual language as a tool for research, communication and education within the framework of the IPOV project. How can emotions be represented in care? What can audiovisual storytelling contribute to our understanding of sexual and reproductive health? As part of the research secondment at UTERUS – Saúde Integrativa da Mulher, Serena Brigidi had the pleasure of meeting videomaker Carol Goya.

13 July: Women’s Health, Physiotherapy and Immersive Technologies

On the same day, 13 July, Serena Brigidi held a working meeting with Paula Clara Santos at the Centro de Investigação em Reabilitação of Instituto Politécnico do Porto (CIR | P.PORTO).

During the visit, they shared research interests related to health promotion, physical activity and physiotherapy in women’s health, with particular attention to pregnancy, the postpartum period and pelvic floor dysfunctions.

The meeting also addressed occupational health and community health.

In addition to the research exchange, the visit included a practical experience with immersive technologies applied to rehabilitation. Serena Brigidi explored the use of virtual reality headsets and their potential applications in women’s health programmes and functional recovery.

🔬 Within the framework of the research stay at UTERUS – Saúde Integrativa da Mulher (Porto), Serena Brigidi held a working meeting with Paula Clara Santos at CIR|IPP – Centro de Investigação e Centro de Reabilitação do Instituto Politécnico do Porto. 🤝 During the visit, they shared research interests related to health promotion, physical activity and physiotherapy in women’s health —particularly during pregnancy, the postpartum period and in relation to pelvic floor dysfunctions— as well as occupational and community health. 🥽 The meeting also included a practical experience with immersive technologies applied to rehabilitation, exploring the use of virtual reality headsets and their potential applications in women’s health programmes and functional recovery.

14 July: Visit to Famalicão Hospital

On 14 July, Serena Brigidi visited Famalicão Hospital, where she was welcomed by Dr Sarittas Nápoles, a gynaecologist.

The activity included a tour of the delivery rooms, providing an opportunity to gain insight into obstetric care practices within the hospital.

The visit also created a context for reflecting on how services can be transformed through the implementation of more respectful, woman-centred approaches, in connection with the objectives of the IPOV project.

This aspect of the secondment is particularly relevant because it connects the project’s research and training activities with real obstetric care settings and with professionals working directly within them.

22–26 July: Exploring the History of Health, the Body, Gender and Medicine

Between 22 and 26 July, excluding the weekend according to the secondment activity record, Serena Brigidi visited the Museu da Saúde, the Museu de Dermatologia Portuguesa Dr. Sá Penella, and the Museu do Leite.

These visits provided an opportunity to explore the historical relationships between health, the body, gender and medicine through collections related to public health, dermatology, breastfeeding, nutrition and the history of healthcare practices.

The museums offered valuable perspectives on the evolution of medical knowledge, healthcare institutions and cultural representations of care and women’s health.

🏛️ Within the framework of the research stay at UTERUS – Saúde Integrativa da Mulher (Porto), Serena Brigidi visited the Museu da Saúde, the Museu Dermatológico Português and the Museu do Leite in Lisbon as part of the activities of the European project IPOV – International Platform on Obstetric Violence. 🔎 The visit offered an opportunity to explore the historical relationships between health, the body, gender and medicine through collections dedicated to public health, dermatology, breastfeeding, nutrition and the history of healthcare practices

Breastfeeding, Infant Nutrition and Maternal Care

Particular attention was given to the materials associated with the Museu do Leite.

According to the secondment activity record, its collections provided an opportunity to reflect on the history of breastfeeding, infant nutrition and maternal care, issues closely connected to contemporary debates on reproductive health and respectful maternity care.

For reasons of documentary accuracy, the name Museu do Leite is retained here exactly as it appears in the secondment activity report, without adding a more specific institutional location that has not been independently confirmed.

Why Is This Secondment Important for IPOV?

The significance of this stay should be understood within the framework of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Staff Exchanges programme.

MSCA Staff Exchanges are designed to promote international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration in research and innovation through staff mobility and the circulation of knowledge and ideas. They enable participants to acquire new knowledge and skills while strengthening research and innovation capacities across participating organisations.

Serena Brigidi’s secondment directly reflects this model.

Over the course of one month, the work connected IPOV’s WP3 and its training resources with experiences, professionals and areas of knowledge including obstetric care, women’s health, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, occupational and community health, transformative practices, participatory methodologies, immersive technologies, sound, audiovisual communication, art, design and the history of medicine and care.

These activities should not be understood simply as a sequence of visits. They created opportunities to connect IPOV’s work with practices, methodologies and knowledge originating from different sectors and disciplines.

The IPOV consortium itself has highlighted this function of secondments, noting that these mobilities facilitate the exchange of knowledge, research methods, professional experiences and educational practices among participating organisations.

In the framework of the research stay at UTERUS – Saúde Integrativa da Mulher (Porto), Serena Brigidi visited the Museum of Health and the Rainha Dona Leonor Thermal Hospital, founded in 1485 in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.

The visit offered an opportunity to explore the historical relationships between care, the body, gender and medicine. The Rainha Dona Leonor Thermal Hospital, one of the oldest thermal hospitals in Europe, provides a unique setting for reflecting on the historical development of healthcare practices and women’s care.

A Direct Contribution to WP3 – Learning Scenario

The secondment is particularly closely connected to the development of WP3 – Learning Scenario, led by Serena Brigidi within IPOV.

The work carried out at UTERUS on transformative practices, privilege wheels and participatory methodologies is directly related to this training component.

Other approaches explored during the secondment also broadened the range of methodologies and perspectives available to the project: soundscapes as educational tools; audiovisual language as a resource for research, communication and education; immersive technologies; exchanges with healthcare professionals; and historical reflection on the ways in which health, the body and care have been understood.

These experiences provide materials, approaches and professional contacts that may inform the reflection and development process associated with the Learning Scenario, without implying that every activity undertaken during the secondment will necessarily become part of the final course or its outputs.

This distinction is important. A secondment functions as a space for exploration, learning and knowledge exchange from which contributions to the project can emerge, but not every experience undertaken during a mobility period constitutes a final IPOV output in itself.

From Research on Obstetric Violence to the Exploration of Care Practices

The programme developed by Serena Brigidi during the secondment enabled care to be approached from several different perspectives.

The visit to Famalicão Hospital provided direct contact with an obstetric care environment and an opportunity to reflect on respectful and woman-centred approaches.

The work with Isabel Ferreira, Diana Lopes and Joäna Cristella explored sound and soundscapes as tools connected with care, research and education.

The meeting with Carol Goya introduced the emotional dimension and the possibilities of audiovisual language in sexual and reproductive health.

The exchange with Olga Noronha opened a dialogue between art, design, medicine, technology and patients’ lived experience.

The meeting with Paula Clara Santos connected the project with physiotherapy in women’s health, rehabilitation, pregnancy, postpartum care, pelvic floor dysfunctions and immersive technologies.

The meeting with Dr Noémia Loio Marques added an exchange with a professional working in Occupational Health and General Medicine.

Finally, the museum visits introduced a historical perspective on health, medicine, the body, gender, breastfeeding, nutrition, maternal care and the evolution of healthcare practices.

The Value of Interdisciplinary Exchange

Serena Brigidi’s secondment provides a concrete example of how mobility can contribute to the functioning of an international research project such as IPOV.

Its value lies not simply in travelling from one organisation to another, but in creating spaces for exchange between people, institutions, disciplines and methodologies that normally approach health and care from different perspectives.

In this case, the stay connected the development of the WP3 – Learning Scenario with experiences from healthcare practice, research, training, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, art, design, audiovisual communication, sound and the historical heritage of healthcare.

This process is consistent with the purpose of MSCA Staff Exchanges: to foster knowledge transfer through international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaboration.

For IPOV – RESPECTFUL CARE, the result is a broader range of perspectives from which obstetric violence, women’s health and alternatives aimed at more respectful maternity care can be researched, taught and discussed.

Serena Brigidi’s secondment, carried out between 27 June and 26 July 2026, therefore represents a contribution to the project’s knowledge-exchange process and, particularly, to the reflection and development work associated with WP3 – Learning Scenario.