Sara Guerra was one of the faces of CINTESIS/University of Aveiro in MOAI LABS, a transnational laboratory, funded by FEDER (Interreg Sudoe) and led by the INTRAS Foundation, which brought together nine partners from three European countries (Portugal, Spain and France) and resulted in the creation of an innovative digital platform that aims to minimize loneliness and social isolation of older adults.

As a researcher in the AgeingC group, she has been involved in many other projects in areas as seemingly disparate as psychoeducational interventions in dementia, robotic animals, hoarding disorder, loneliness in old age, and developmental issues (such as generativity) in older LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, or Intersex) adults. Of all she speaks with enthusiasm.

Sara Guerra was born in Aveiro, where she lived, studied, and dreamed of being a singer or teacher when she was a child. “I remember, at the age of 11, giving lessons to my four younger brothers and my cousins,” she says. She wanted to do higher education in her hometown and, as there was no Psychology course yet, she applied for Speech Therapy at the University of Aveiro, but was placed in Gerontology and did her degree from 2003 to 2008 (pre-Bologna).

“I was afraid that it would be an area with very direct intervention with the elderly and that was not my goal at the time, but I was very surprised in the first year and I have never regretted my choice,” she says.

After graduating, she won a four-year PhD scholarship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), and in 2012, she obtained a PhD degree in Gerontology and Geriatrics from the University of Aveiro/ICBAS (University of Porto) with an integrated support program for people with dementia and their family caregivers.

“ProFamílias-demência, a project I developed as part of my doctorate, had more than 10 editions and was replicated in several health centers. It’s good to know that it was used, that it made sense, and that it helped several people”, she declares. The scientific articles were published in Dementia (“Evaluating profamilies-dementia” and “Profamilies-dementia: A program for elderly people with dementia and their families“).

In 2013, she turned to entrepreneurship, with the development of a business project in the area of social innovation – “LOCALCare”, under a program promoted by Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Lisboa (BIS – Social Innovation Bank), with funding from IAPMEI. After that, she worked in two institutions: a residential structure for the elderly (ERPI) and a Non-Governmental Organization, the Portuguese Red Cross, in Aveiro, doing intervention with people with dementia and their families (psychoeducation).

She taught at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (FMUC) from 2013 to 2014, at the School of Health of the University of Aveiro, at the School of Education of Coimbra (ESEC) and at the School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo, where she was a Guest Assistant Professor from 2017 to 2018, precisely at the time of her first pregnancy; and, more recently, at the School of Education of Viseu (ESEV). She did postdoctoral work in 2017, at UA, with the project “biological legacy in families with a history of neurodegenerative genetic disease”.

It was about five years ago that she officially joined CINTESIS, at the Aveiro University campus. “Being part of CINTESIS has allowed me to be in permanent contact with researchers who are a reference in my area and who have up-to-date knowledge, based on evidence, and a very relevant network that has allowed me to get involved in international projects and collaborate with other teams, which is always a breath of fresh air,” she comments.

According to Sara Guerra, “in the AgeingC group we meet frequently and all the team members, at the UA, have the opportunity to share their research interests and the projects they are involved in. We can create synergies. As a researcher, she has several areas of interest, such as animal accumulation disorder (also known as “Noah’s syndrome”), especially in older people, having published, in 2020, in the Journal of Mental Health, a study that has been much reported by the media. “We realize that the services are not integrated and that there is no articulation or communication between professionals,” she says.

She participated in different projects, such as the “Elderly Assessment System: EASY-Care Research”, launched the “Cherry Pick Podcast” during the pandemic (2020) and was a member of the external evaluation team of the “Gulbenkian Intergenerational” initiative, promoted by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

From 2021 to 2023, she workd full-time in the European project MOAI LABS, which aimed to understand the subjective experience of loneliness and isolation among older adults, and the development of digital solutions to respond to situations of loneliness and social isolation of older adults, based on the “Living Labs” methodology.

The group published in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work and in the International Journal of Social Robotics, in the latter with a systematic review in which they addressed the perspectives of older people who use robotic animals, a type of “social robot”. In institutional as well as community settings, the PARO, a robotic baby seal that seems to induce relaxation and decrease stress in people with dementia and their caregivers, is widely used.

She is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Neurointervention Complex of the Portuguese Red Cross in Vila Nova de Gaia, and is part of European consortiums with projects (underway and in the application preparation phase) in the area of technology for older adults. She combines teaching with research, dedicating herself to the study of the older LGBTI community, having recently published an article on generativity and legacy. “Unfortunately, this project has no funding, so all the work we have been doing is the result of our commitment and our desire to contribute to change,” she says.

1-Year Ambition

To be happy in what I am doing, whether I am teaching or doing research. I would like to continue to be surrounded by a team that inspires me and that I feel comfortable working with. Ideally, working in research 100% and involved in international projects.

10-Year Ambition

My motivation, for sure, will change, but I would like to have some prominence in the research area, to be able to bring relevant contributions in the area of Gerontology. But if I could be working on themes related with the LGBTI community and healthy ageing I would be much happier. It is one of my greatest ambitions.

Life Beyond Research and Teaching

I really enjoy spending time with my four-year-old son and talking to him. I love to do sports, it’s fundamental for my mental health. I do crossfit, it’s very challenging. I love music, it’s one of my passions. I like cinema, dancing…. I started with funky, then turned to hip hop and taught dance classes. I was the lead singer of an original band in the hip hop/rock area when I was doing my PhD. Then I gave it up. Recently, I started taking piano lessons. These are areas that have a great importance in my life, but I don’t dedicate myself to them as much as I used to.