The University of Jaen welcomed the first international meeting organized by members of the Pro-Emotion-Y (PROEM) network, whose aim is to assess emotional health and well-being in young people. UJA researcher, Luis Joaquín García, who leads this research took part in the ‘Hoy por Hoy Jaén’ radio programme where he explained the goals behind this conference hosted in Jaen’s capital.
García talked about how they received opinions from people belonging to different groups including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual individuals and religious minorities. The head of the network explained that “20% of LGBT people have attempted suicide”. Thus, the aim is to see how it is possible to tackle certain situations and the emotional strain they can cause.
“Many people intervened in this conference, including psychology researchers, healthcare professionals, guidance counselors, community health experts, end-user associations and young people giving their accounts. This initiative is “unique to our country” because it addresses the topic differently given that “it has traditionally been approached in a fragmented way”.
A global problem
Luis Joaquín García has stated that currently there are “some two million young people in our country with emotional problems or at risk of suffering from them”. This figure is much higher at an international level, with the figure reaching 615 million people. We are therefore faced with a major challenge.
The meeting would close with a document that outlines the proposals agreed on by researchers in order to first describe the actual situation and then define a series of solutions to be sent to stakeholders and policy-makers. The end goal is to be able to establish various health and mental well-being policies for young people.
