Authors: Carla Sa-Couto, Ingrid Bispo and Abel Nicolau, FMUP
Date: 04.02.2026
The PROGRESSION project has achieved strong scientific visibility through extensive dissemination at national and international congresses, conferences, and professional training events.
Between 2024 and 2025, project partners presented PROGRESSION outcomes at more than 20 scientific events, reaching an estimated 7,000+ healthcare professionals, educators, and researchers across Europe and beyond.
Presentations focused on the project’s core objective: advancing midwifery and healthcare education through AR/VR and extended reality (XR) technologies, particularly to support a deeper understanding of maternal positioning manoeuvres. Early dissemination activities in 2024 introduced the conceptual and pedagogical foundations of PROGRESSION at conferences such as NursID (Portugal), SESAM (Prague), InSiM (Germany), and Tehnologia & iHealth în Medicina Secolului XXI (Romania). These contributions highlighted the limitations of conventional teaching approaches and positioned immersive simulation as a promising educational alternative.
In 2025, dissemination intensified, with PROGRESSION featured in major international forums including SESAM Valencia, IPSSW Munich, ASPiH Bournemouth, and the International Conference on Medical Education (Beirut). Scientific outputs evolved from project introductions to empirical findings, hands-on demonstrations, and structured workshops. Notably, results from a pre–post study on VR-based training for midwifery students were presented at ASPiH 2025, demonstrating measurable improvements in learners’ knowledge of maternal positioning during labour.
Across events, PROGRESSION engaged diverse audiences—midwives, nurses, physicians, simulation specialists, educators, and policymakers—through lectures, poster presentations, demonstrations, and interactive workshops. This breadth reflects the project’s interdisciplinary relevance and its contribution to current debates on digitalisation, patient safety, and innovation in healthcare education.
