The report and roadmap by the PROEM network is the only reference to a Spanish entity or group cited in this highly relevant document drawn up by the Council of Europe’s Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, which aims to be a guide to decision-making in European social and research policies
27/5/2019.- The document “Addressing the health needs of adolescents in Europe”, a report drawn up by the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, which is attached to the Council of Europe, contains within its pages the work undertaken by the interdisciplinary network for the PROmotion of mental health and EMotional well-being in the young (Red PROEM).
The document explores the main health-related issues young people across Europe struggle with, such as anxiety and depression, eating disorders, early pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, self-harm, addictive or violent behaviours and suicidal thoughts. From this perspective, its author Doreen Massey describes how “young people feel that they do not get the help they want when they need it. Too often, they are demonised or medicalised”.
This report, which was presented and adopted as a resolution by the Standing Committee of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly on 24 May, aims to be a guide to decision-making in European social and research policies. Specifically, it advocates support for research and public health systems, for raising awareness among the media and education of the best practices developed, and for increasing investment in adolescent health to benefit the well-being of future generations and societies. These European recommendations are in line with the non-legislative proposals (Proposiciónes No de Ley; PNL) which were recently presented before the Congress of Deputies, at the initiative of the PROEM network.
The PROEM network, the only Spanish entity or group referred to in the document
Throughout its pages, the report “Addressing the health needs of adolescents in Europe” establishes a number of measures to take into account regarding adolescent mental health, sexual health and obesity. The PROEM network represents the only Spanish entity or group mentioned in the mental health section. The document highlights that the PROEM network “gives a comprehensive argument for the prioritisation of mental health and effective interventions”. It also links to the report and roadmap carried out by the PROEM network, which analyses the state of the art, needs and recommendations for improving psychological assessment and promoting mental health and emotional well-being in young people.
“The inclusion of the PROEM network’s report in such an important European document is a huge recognition for the researchers and other professionals across the different areas who have worked on it”, explains Luis Joaquín García, the network’s PI and lecturer with the Department of Psychology at the University of Jaén. He also stresses the “need to introduce policies at a European level that have a positive impact on young people’s health and emotional well-being. This document and the adopted resolution represent a first step, and it is important that the work undertaken by the PROEM network forms part of the guide for European politicians to follow”.
The PROEM network report and roadmap was drawn up by researchers specialising in mental health and other areas belonging to the University of Jaén (institution heading the network), the University of Córdoba, the University of the Basque Country, the Miguel Hernández University, the University of Deusto, the Rovira i Virgili University, the Complutense University of Madrid, the Autonomous University of Madrid, the University of Almería, the National Distance Education University (UNED), and the University of Coimbra (Portugal). They were joined by professionals from clinical and community health institutions such as the Les Corts Mental Health Centre and the Malaga Biomedical Research Institute; counseling groups including the Confederation of Psychopedagogy and Counseling Organizations in Spain (COPOE) and the Provincial Technical Team for Vocational and Educational Guidance of the Government of Andalusia’s Department of Education; and user groups such as the Spanish Association for Mutual Assistance against Social Phobia and Anxiety Disorders (AMTAES), the Spanish Society for the Study of Anxiety and Stress (SEAS), and the State Federation of Lesbian, Gay, Transsexual and Bisexual Individuals (FELGTB).
