Volume 5, Issue 1 (2022)

Rui Pereira, RN, PHN, COHN, MSc, PhD

It is an honour, a privilege and a pleasure to be the guest editor of the BAU Journal of Health and Wellbeing, a university that has already welcomed me twice with the greatest cordiality and kindness. To that extent, I carry this institution, the people who build it on a daily basis and the country itself in my heart. Moreover, it was in a personal and direct way that I was able to witness the scientific quality of the academic project underway at BAU, whose most visible expression, in addition to the undergraduate and postgraduate qualification of health professionals of excellence, is the continued publication of this journal that returns with a new and exciting edition.

Analysing in a global way the papers that constitute this edition, we observe an enriching variety of subjects, challenges and realities integrating diversified scientific areas that invite us to read, share and scrutinise the works presented. Among these, we highlight articles within the scope of public health, whose collective implication naturally deserves to be highlighted. The studies and issues related to the use of technologies at the service of health, which are so relevant in a perspective of knowledge translation and various aspects inherent to clinical practice including knowledge synthesis, are also noteworthy. As a journal that also considers wellbeing, it is with satisfaction that we also find publications within the scope of mental health, and of course, works that are related to behaviours and patterns of life that are immensely subject to change in our daily lives. As a publication hosted by a university, I am also pleased to see the attention given to the students themselves, who are always the raison d'être of our institutions.

Lebanon is a radiant country, full of history, sunshine and light. Last June, we again witnessed on site and in person the resistance and resilience of a people who struggle against so many adversities but who continue to work with tenacity towards excellence in health. The BAU Journal of Health and Wellbeing is an outstanding example of this. And speaking of light, we recall Louis Pasteur who said that knowledge illuminates the world and, as such, belongs to all of humanity. I therefore invite you to discover the present issue, challenging today's readers to make their own way tomorrow in the dissemination of science. To the editors, reviewers, authors, readers and the BAU academic community I wish all the best and I send the warmest greeting from Portugal.