Online educommunication and empowerment are crucial dimensions in awareness, literacy and change processes, and their articulation may bring benefits to cardiovascular health, given that cardiovascular diseases are the deadliest in the world, including in Portugal. This paper aims to explore the relationship between online educommunication and empowerment in cardiovascular health, using Lisbon citizens as a case. The theoretical framework is composed by the interactivity and empowerment model, the health belief model and the uses and gratifications theory. The questionnaire survey was applied to a gender and age quota sample (N=400). The questionnaire includes thematic dimensions, such as online informative practices on cardiovascular health, the eHEALS scale, and the importance and effectiveness of the educommunicative message on cardiovascular health features. Results show that the educommunicative message has characteristics at the level of purpose, content, type, format, emotions, and logic, which enhance it the most. This indicates that exposure to messages with these characteristics may instigate empowerment and behavior change. Respondents self-rated with the most positive levels on the eHEALS scale, showing empowerment at the eHealth level, with age rather than gender differences. There is evidence that eHealth skills and having cardiovascular disease influence information seeking and empowerment. The main contribution lies in identifying characteristics of the cardiovascular health educommunication message that can optimize recipient’s empowerment.

(1) Background: Studies on women with disabilities (WwD) are rare and tend to reveal certain representation patterns. This study aims to understand how and to what extent WwD and chronic diseases are deemed newsworthy in the Portuguese public news TV station RTP1 primetime news program. Feminist disability, standpoint, agenda-setting, and framing theories are used alongside the concept of intersectionality. (2) Methods: A mixed-method approach is adopted, combining quantitative content analysis of all broadcasted news in January 2020 (n = 704), and qualitative discourse analysis of news items on PwD (n = 5). (3) Results: The results reveal that disability is a reduced issue in Telejornal’s agenda. PwD, in general, are often portrayed in secondary roles and without a voice. The protagonists of news stories about disability or persons with disabilities are predominantly women without disabilities, occupying traditional roles as caregivers (mothers, nurses), while men are more often portrayed as public agents. Discourse analysis deepens understanding by uncovering the prevalence of negative news values and a problem-centred framing, often associated with negativity, rather than presenting solutions. (4) Conclusions: Consequently, WwD were found to be deprived of news representation with a more positive or ‘normal’ focus and an intersectional approach reveals a lack of inclusion, with the few existing news tending to focus on exclusion issues, portraying only white Portuguese women. This study underscores the urgent need for a more equitable approach in media representation, recognising the diversity and positive contributions of WwD to promote an inclusive narrative.

Benefits of baby swimming have been established, but there is limited knowledge about the methodologies used by practitioners. To address this knowledge gap, this study aimed to categorize and classify the equipment and environmental used in baby swimming programs worldwide. A descriptive categorical content analysis approach was employed to analyse videos of baby swimming programs obtained from YouTube. The framework created was validated for interrater reliability, and a pilot study was conducted to classify videos from different countries based on the equipment and environment used. Results indicated that the physical environments observed were pool tanks and swimming pools with and without depth reduction zones, while the equipment used included assistive devices, toys, and clothes. This study represents a significant first step in the development of a comprehensive tool to systematize and characterize the methodologies used in baby swimming programs globally.