<a href="https://time.news/livraria-lello-sends-a-petition-to-doctors-to-order-books-mental-health/” title=”Livraria Lello sends a petition to doctors to order books | Mental health”>Livraria Lello, in Porto, launched an innovative and bold campaign that aims to transform reading into a therapeutic tool in the field of mental health in Portugal. The initiative includes an open letter and a public petition, both launched today, which aim to allow doctors to prescribe books as part of the treatment of mental, psychological and social illnesses, further suggesting that the cost of to extract a prescribed book from medical matters. health expenses by the IRS. This action coincides with International Mental Health Day, celebrated on 10 October, the date strategically chosen by the bookshop to launch the petition.
Aurora Pedro Pinto, administrator of Livraria Lello, reinforced the importance of this project for the public good, saying in an interview with Público that “books do not heal, but they help”. The petition, available for signature on the Public Petition websiteentitled “Read, for your health!” and he intends, with the support of a significant number of subscribers, to take it to Parliament for discussion. The objective is clear: to include reading in medical prescriptions as a way to promote mental health, to combat isolation and social exclusion. The petition can be signed here.
The practice of ordering books has already been completed in countries such as the United Kingdom, where the NHS (National Health Service) integrates reading into treatments for mental illness, dementia and problems related to young people, such as bullying. Aurora Pedro Pinto believes that Portugal can follow the same path, arguing that “implementing a similar system would be a powerful answer to the growing needs for emotional and psychological support”. The administrator recalls that, during the pandemic, the role of books was widely recognized, with UNESCO and the president of the European Commission emphasizing their value as an “indispensable” asset, capable of connecting us to other worlds and escaping provision in a period of time. of great uncertainty.
Livraria Lello received thousands of book orders in the first months of the pandemic, a reflection of the public’s search for emotional comfort and relief from isolation. “The book has a therapeutic power”, says Aurora Pedro Pinto, who believes that reading can be an effective tool to combat conditions such as anxiety and depression. It is no coincidence that the petition was launched on the same day as the presentation of the State Budget in Parliament. The bookshop’s open letter justifies the choice of date, saying that as well as mental health being a priority, “the State Budget has an inescapable duty to look after our mental health”.
In Portugal, there are already several initiatives that integrate reading with health care. Between February 2023 and January 2024, a partnership between the National Reading Plan (PNL), the General Directorate of Health, the Portuguese Society of General and Family Medicine and other entities allowed hundreds of children to receive prescribed books in their first consultation in various areas. health units throughout the country. In the case of Aurora Pedro Pinto, an initiative of this kind confirms that “books are the irreplaceable foundation of mental health”. The administrator believes that the prescription of the books should be expanded to include all ages and pathologies related to mental health.
Livraria Lello’s petition proposes that book prescriptions be treated as a health expense, deductible from income tax, comparing the book to “medicine for the soul and mind”. The open letter asks deputies to include this measure in budget negotiations, saying “this is a great opportunity for our representatives to show that they care about the mental health of their fellow citizens.”
Therefore, Livraria Lello asks everyone who believes in the power of books to promote mental health and social well-being to sign the petition. The proposal emphasizes that books can be an effective tool to combat bullying, loneliness, anxiety and social exclusion, conditions that particularly affect young people and the most vulnerable. vulnerable. “We want books to be part of the path to a healthier life”, concludes Aurora Pedro Pinto.
The petition is now available online and can be signed on the website Public Petition. Livraria Lello hopes that the proposal will reach the number of signatures necessary to discuss it in the Assembly of the Republic, thus taking an important step to value reading as an essential part of medical treatment in Portugal.