The interfaces between the fields of communication, education and health have been indicated by international institutions such as the WHO and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. However, hegemonic scientific practices supersede dialogue between the three fields, isolating their practices. This fragmenting tendency is observed in scientific literature, which has created gaps in the dialogue and articulation between communication, education and health. Although health promotion requires both communicative and educational practices, the epistemological, historical, political, cultural and socioeconomic aspects have also engendered tensions between the fields. Communication is often seen as a mere instrument for other practices, rather than a phenomenon that (re)produces meanings and power dynamics. In opposing the reductionist and instrumentalising perspectives of knowledge fields, the primary objective of the scoping review is to map the scientific evidence on the interfaces between communication and education in health to indicate a conceptual framework that articulates communication and education practices within the context of health.

A transdisciplinary team developed this protocol based on the 2024 Joanna Briggs Institute Manual for Evidence Synthesis. The procedures required to conduct the review were guided by the frameworks proposed by Arksey and O'Malley, Levac et al and Peters et al. The study eligibility criteria were established based on the Problem, Concept and Context outlined in the research questions. Primary and secondary studies will be retrieved from nine sources, covering both conventional and grey literature. These sources include Embase, ERIC, LILACS, PubMed/MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, and the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations. A categorised form will be used for data collection and subsequent analysis. The reporting of the review findings will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews.

The nature of the research and the use of secondary data sources do not require informed consent forms or approval from ethics committees in Brazil. The scientific findings from the review will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences and other scientific communication channels.

The protocol was registered on the Open Science Framework (OSF) and is available at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/Z3CX7.

We aim to identify trajectories of probable maternal common mental disorders (CMD), as well as risk and protective factors associated with maternal mental health among postpartum women during the pandemic using life course theory approach.

Prospective individual level cohort study from the Iracema-COVID Study.

Mothers (n=335) at postpartum period who delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic in the fourth largest city in Brazil.

Probable CMDs were accessed using validated instruments in five cohort waves at postpartum period. Sequence analyses (SA) were employed to extract CMD trajectories, and a set of generalised binomial logistic and log-Poisson multivariable regression models with robust variance were employed to assess risk and protective factors for probable CMDs diagnosis.

Trajectories patterns of probable maternal common mental disorders.

Fit indices demonstrated a two-cluster-SA solution of probable CMD. The patterns of probable CMDs indicated that 335 mothers were clustered into occasional/transitory (n=240, 71.64%) and mostly/persistent (n=95, 28.36%) CMD trajectories. We found that mothers with low education (OR: 2.44; 95% CI 1.13 to 5.23), single (OR: 1.97; 95% CI 1.03 to 3.75) or in a stable union (OR: 2.00; 95% CI 1.02 to 3.90) and travel time spent to access the nearest primary healthcare unit (OR: 1.02; 95% CI 1.006 to 1.04) were associated with increased OR of belonging to the mostly/persistent CMD trajectory. Deprived green areas acted as a risk factor to maternal CMDs prevalence (OR: 1.37; 95% CI 1.002 to 1.87).

This study provides evidence that individual vulnerabilities and neighbourhood deprivation play an important role in understanding maternal mental health, beyond the patterns and trajectories of probable maternal CMD due to issues confronted during the COVID-19 outbreak in the northeastern region of Brazil. Policies to prevent and treat maternal mental health issues and improvement in neighbourhood deprivation need to be developed and addressed to avoid exacerbation of probable maternal CMDs.

Adolescence and youth are periods of significant maturational changes, which seem to involve greater susceptibility to disruptive events in the brain, such as binge drinking (BD). This pattern—characterised by repeated episodes of alcohol intoxication—is of particular concern, as it has been associated with significant alterations in the developing brain. Recent evidence indicates that alcohol may also induce changes in gut microbiota composition and that such disturbances can lead to impairments in both brain function and behaviour. Moreover, there is evidence suggesting that microbiota-targeted interventions (psychobiotics) may help mitigate alcohol-induced damage in individuals with chronic alcohol use, positively influencing cognitive and brain functioning. However, the triadic relationship between BD, gut microbiota and brain structure/function, as well as the therapeutic potential of gut microbiota-targeted interventions in young binge drinkers, remains largely unexplored.

This double-blind, parallel, randomised controlled study aims to evaluate whether a BD pattern disrupts gut microbiota diversity in young college students (primary outcome). Additionally, it seeks to determine whether alcohol-induced alterations in the microbial composition and function are associated with immunological, cognitive, neurostructural and neurofunctional impairments (secondary outcomes). A total of 82 college students (36 non/low drinkers and 46 binge drinkers (BDs)), matched for age and sex, will be recruited from the University of Minho (Portugal). During the pre-intervention phase, all participants will undergo a comprehensive assessment protocol, including gut microbiota profiling, measurement of inflammatory markers, neuropsychological testing and structural and functional MRI. BDs will then be randomly assigned to a 6-week intervention with either a prebiotic (inulin) or a placebo (maltodextrin). Post-intervention assessment will mirror the baseline protocol, and craving and alcohol use will be monitored for 3 months.

The present protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee for Social and Human Sciences of the University of Minho (CEICSH 078/2022), ensuring compliance with national and international ethical guidelines, including the Declaration of Helsinki. Participation is voluntary and preceded by informed consent, with confidentiality and data processing safeguarded in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation. All procedures are safe and non-invasive, and the prebiotics used are recognised as food ingredients in Europe, hold Generally Recognized as Safe status in the USA and are classified as dietary fibres by the Food and Drug Administration. Findings will be disseminated in national and international scientific forums, with preference for publication in open-access, peer-reviewed journals.

NCT05946083