Luis Joaquín García, professor at the University of Jaén and head of the PROEM Network, presented the results of the intervention to the working team of the Ministry of Education and Employment of the Regional Government of Extremadura.
16/11/2021.- The PROCARE initiative, which provides free help to schoolchildren at risk of suffering emotional problems, has contributed to the promotion of mental health and emotional well-being of a total of 22 young people between 12 and 18 years of age and their families, who have participated in the intervention in recent months in the autonomous community of Extremadura.
This is shown by the data of the action carried out by experts of the PROEM Network, led by the University of Jaén (UJA), through the first selective prevention program aimed at young people aged between 12 and 18 years at risk of suffering emotional problems in the current stage of psychosocial difficulties marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the results indicate the reduction of emotional problems, the improvement of the subjective quality of life and the regulation of emotions in the young participants, who in turn, have shown their satisfaction and acceptability after the implementation of PROCARE.
The professor of the UJA and main responsible of the PROEM Network, Luis Joaquin Garcia, presented the results of the PROCARE initiative in the autonomous community of Extremadura to representatives of the Ministry of Education and Employment of the Junta de Extremadura. The meeting, held telematically, was attended by the General Director of Innovation and Educational Inclusion, Juan Pablo Venero, and the Head of the Educational Programs and Diversity Attention Service, David Reyes.
Luis Joaquín García points out the “important involvement of the work team of the Department of Education and Employment of the Regional Government of Extremadura for its dissemination of this initiative in several schools in the Extremadura community, thanks to which more than twenty young people and their families have been able to benefit from PROCARE, an emotional vaccine to strengthen young people in times of crisis and change”.
For his part, Juan Pablo Venero expressed that “the Regional Government of Extremadura continues to support literacy in health and emotional wellbeing for young people in Extremadura, with the aim of providing educational staff and the school community with resources for the early detection and intervention of adolescents with (or at risk of) emotional problems”. Similarly, he expressed “the interest of the Extremaduran entity in continuing to collaborate with the initiatives launched by the PROEM Network in the field of promoting mental health and emotional well-being of young people”.
The PROCARE initiative is a nationwide project with professionals from the Psychology Department of the UJA, the Rovira i Virgili University, the Miguel Hernández University of Elche and the University of Miami (USA). In addition, the Youth Institute (INJUVE) of the Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030, the Spanish Association of Mutual Help against Social Phobia and Anxiety Disorders (AMTAES), the Confederation of Organizations of Psychopedagogy and Guidance of Spain (COPOE), the LGTB Youth group of the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Trans and Bisexuals (FELGTB) and the Youth Council of Spain are part of the project’s External Advisory Council.
