International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | Interview with One of the Authors—Prof. Dr. Anabela Correia Martins
Name: Prof. Dr. Anabela Correia Martins
Affiliations: 1 Coimbra Health School, Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Rua 5 de Outubro, 3045-043 Coimbra, Portugal; 2 H&TR-Health & Technology Research Center, Coimbra Health School, Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Rua 5 de Outubro, 3045-043 Coimbra, Portugal; 3 Center for Rehabilitation Research, Health School, Polytechnic of Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal; 4 SUScita—Research Group on Sustainability, Cities and Urban Intelligence, 3045-093 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: active and healthy ageing; fall prevention, movement and mobility; walkability and age-friendly environments; social participation and community engagement; digital health in physiotherapy; gerontechnology in physiotherapy
“Health and Functioning of Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Urban and Rural Areas of Portugal—What Are the Implications for Physiotherapy Care?”
by Magda Reis, Sara Ferreira, Monserrat Conde and Anabela Correia Martins
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2025, 22(12), 1827; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22121827
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/12/1827
The following is the interview with Prof. Dr. Anabela Correia Martins:
1. Congratulations on your recent publication! Could you briefly introduce yourself and your current research focus?
Thank you very much! My name is Anabela Correia Martins. I am a Coordinating Professor at the Polytechnic University of Coimbra IPC-ESTeSC Coimbra Health School, Physiotherapy, Coimbra, Portugal, with research focused on health promotion, fall prevention, healthy ageing, and assistive technologies at the H&TR-Health & Technology Research Center and the Center for Rehabilitation Research, Health School, Polytechnic of Porto. I am a trained physiotherapist with an MSc in sociology and a PhD in psychology. Following several years of clinical practice in hospitals, I have been fully dedicated to teaching and research since 2002.
I coordinate the Falls Group within Portugal’s National Patient Safety Plan 2021–2026 and have led the FallSensing project, which developed technological solutions for fall risk screening and preventive programs.
Currently, my work focuses on studying and promoting active and healthy ageing, with a particular emphasis on fall prevention and health literacy, while being mindful of the inequalities that exist in our country and the scarcity of prevention policies in general, and of healthy ageing policies in particular. I also work in areas related to gerontechnology and the sustainability of physiotherapy care. In practice, this involves developing and evaluating exercise- and education-based interventions aimed at reducing risk and improving mobility, participation, and confidence among older adults. Empowering people throughout the life span, as well as society, together with the use of low-cost technologies and digital solutions, are key strategies to support the autonomy of older adults. For example, in projects such as FallSensing, we have evaluated and adapted formats of exercise programs for older adults, integrated with technological tools.
2. What inspired you to focus on this topic?
What inspired me to choose this topic was always my perception of the very concrete needs of the people I work with, particularly older adults who face mobility risks and limitations and who live in social and cultural contexts that are very specific to Southern Europe.
Throughout my clinical practice and later in my research work, I have seen how falls, functional decline, and a lack of health literacy limit people’s autonomy, social participation, and quality of life. This everyday reality motivated me to develop solutions that would not remain only on paper but could be used and adopted by people living in real communities.
In addition, working daily with undergraduate and postgraduate students is more than an opportunity to put ideas into practice, it is a responsibility. I see them as partners in discovering innovative, sustainable, and equitable responses to the challenges of ageing. For this reason, the projects and programs we develop and implement are grounded in the best scientific evidence available, as they must be. At the same time, we carry out complementary work to test strategies to ensure long-term adherence and sustainability across years and generations. Within our team, we value unity, solidarity, and interdependence between science and society, characterized by the sharing of values and norms and a strong sense of belonging. This approach also contributes to the training of future physiotherapists who can create interventions that are useful, fair, and lasting for communities.
This motivation led me to investigate interventions that are not only effective, but also feasible and culturally appropriate; for example, adapting fall prevention and physical activity promotion programs to rural or urban contexts, so that they can genuinely address real ageing-related problems.
To conclude, my interest emerged from the desire to respond to tangible needs—not only general ones, but also those specific to our region and culture—by helping older adults remain active, safe, and included in their communities, building solutions with equality and real-world impact.
3. Your study highlights significant health disparities between rural and urban older adults in Portugal. What do you think are the most actionable insights for public health policymakers?
Direct more resources and tailored programs towards rural areas, where functional limitations, social isolation, and social exclusion are more pronounced.
Promote self-efficacy for exercise and social participation as core pillars of active ageing policies, through community-based initiatives in both rural and urban settings.
Integrate fall prevention with the management of chronic diseases, using regular functional assessment and combined physiotherapy and health education interventions.
Adapt messages, materials, and actions to different levels of health literacy and local contexts, ensuring equity in both access to and effectiveness of interventions.
In this way, policies can become more closely aligned with current evidence on who is at greater risk and which barriers need to be removed to improve the health and functional capacity of older adults in Portugal.
4. What role can digital physical therapy or telehealth play in bridging the rural-urban gap in rehabilitation access?
Telephysiotherapy and other digital forms of care can be a practical and relatively rapid way to reach rural populations with greater health needs and fewer local resources. They can offer personalized interventions, monitored by professionals, with potential cost-effectiveness and good acceptability—especially when local support and low-cost and user-friendly materials for older adults are in place.
Portuguese society has shown strong social cohesion in times of emergency, as we witnessed during the devastating wildfires of recent summers and as we have seen in recent weeks with successive storms. For example, by involving physiotherapy students, community agents, senior clubs, or primary care units, telephysiotherapy can complement and strengthen existing services rather than compete with them, thereby increasing sustainability.
5. Could you share your vision for the future of your research and the contributions you aspire to make in your field?
I see the future of my research as an increasingly integrated path between technological innovation, social commitment, and human development. I aim to contribute to a model of physiotherapy and health promotion that is entrepreneurial and forward-looking, but also deeply empathetic, equitable, and person-centered.
Recent results from our study with older adults in Portugal revealed clear disparities between rural and urban areas. Sharing these findings showed me that, for some professionals and decision-makers, they were genuinely surprising. In Portugal, and perhaps in other parts of the world, there is an idealized belief that living in rural areas guarantees a better quality of life. This may indeed be true, if services, systems, and policies are also ensured to address residents’ needs, including some very basic ones. These differences reinforce the existence of gaps in access and functional capacity that cannot be ignored and of which decision-makers must be fully aware.
From this perspective, I envision three interconnected lines of progress:
1) Democratize access to physiotherapy for the promotion of active ageing, especially in less advantaged contexts. This includes using technology, telehealth, and artificial intelligence to deliver assessment, guidance, and exercise programs in an accessible, reliable, and culturally adapted way to rural or more isolated communities. However, technology should not be introduced for its own sake. It is essential to ensure that these tools are designed with cultural sensitivity, accessible language, local support, and continuous training for professionals and students, so that they become real instruments of inclusion rather than mere technological luxuries.
2) Foster responsible and sustainable innovation by combining technology with the humanization of care. AI and other technologies should act as allies to physiotherapy, enhancing risk analysis, program personalization, and monitoring, while simultaneously strengthening the quality of the human relationship between professionals and service users. This requires us, as clinicians, educators, and researchers, to continue developing not only technical skills but also competencies in listening, empathy, ethics, and leadership. I want the projects I lead and the students I train to be prepared to build technological solutions that respect and value everyone, regardless of where they live.
3) Create scalable and equitable solutions with genuine local impact. Inspired by the reality highlighted in our study, my ambition is to develop programs and models that can be scaled up—such as community-based fall prevention models or technology-mediated exercise and social participation programs—without losing sensitivity to the specific characteristics of each region and culture. This involves social entrepreneurship: building partnerships, exploring new funding models, developing multidisciplinary projects, and collaborating with policymakers, communities, and civil society organizations. The goal is for science to generate real impact, for interventions to reach those who need them most, and for equity to be a daily practice rather than a slogan.
6. What advice would you give to young scholars seeking to get into academia or publish their work?
I know well how insecurities arise—the academic world often feels full of demands, rigorous evaluations, deadlines, doubts about whether our work will truly have an impact, and even uncertainty about the future. But I want to leave a message of hope and confidence for young scholars and younger researchers: you already carry a distinctive “DNA of extraordinary technological skills.” This is an enormous advantage. What further strengthens this potential is equally embracing human skills—teamwork, empathy, collaboration with citizens, rigor, ethics, and intellectual and scientific honesty. It is this combination that creates science that is useful, sustainable, and capable of making a real difference in people’s lives.
You master digital tools, data, technology, and cutting-edge methods. Use them to solve real problems, not merely to publish for the sake of publishing. Consider, for example, this study showing clear differences between rural and urban older adults in Portugal. These are not just statistics, they are signals of real inequalities that must be addressed. Like this one, there will be many other relevant projects that identify gaps, propose solutions, and test them rigorously.
Cultivate teamwork and cooperation with diverse stakeholders. High-quality research emerges when different minds come together: colleagues from other disciplines, frontline professionals, communities, users, and decision-makers. By embracing diverse perspectives, research becomes stronger, more grounded, and more resilient to criticism.
Practice rigor and ethics from the very beginning—this protects and enhances your work. Intellectual honesty, methodological clarity, transparency in results, and respect for the people involved are not just values, they are the foundations that make research credible, replicable, and useful in the long term. When doubts arise, returning to these principles is the safest path forward.
View every challenge or rejection as a learning opportunity, not as failure. Critical reviews, rejected papers, or difficult questions at conferences are part of the process. Do not be discouraged. Use them to improve your study, refine your message, and strengthen your methodology. The most respected researchers have all been through this.
Maintain your curiosity and take care of your human development. Studying, publishing, and teaching are also opportunities to grow as a person. Develop empathy, active listening, and cultural sensitivity. This ensures that science does not become distant or cold but instead remains a truly transformative force.
7. Could you share your experience with the publication process, and what motivated you to choose our journal for publishing this study?
We chose this journal because I recognize it as having a serious editorial team, clear policies, and wide visibility, including open access, which facilitates the rapid dissemination of results to professionals, decision-makers, and society at large.
The process was rigorous and demanding at every stage—from submission to review and final corrections—which reinforces the high standards required. At the same time, I felt genuine support in addressing questions, and a clear appreciation of the work. Communication was always smooth and transparent, making the experience constructive.