The professor of the University of Jaen and main responsible for PROCARE presented the results of this project among adolescents in Cantabria to representatives of Social Services of this region.
6/10/2022.- The professor of the University of Jaén (UJA) and main responsible for PROCARE, Luis Joaquín García, presented the impact of this initiative to promote mental health in young people to representatives of the Social Services area of the community of the Alto Asón region (Cantabria).
Specifically, he met by videoconference with Zulima San Román and Vanesa Revuelta, social workers of this Cantabrian community, to whom he explained the results of PROCARE+ in 2021, with special emphasis on the data extracted from the participating adolescents of the autonomous community of Cantabria.
In this way, Luis JoaquÍn García developed for them the keys to the first selective prevention program aimed at young people between 12 and 18 years of age at risk of suffering emotional problems at a stage conditioned by the psychosocial difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The results of the intervention carried out by experts from the UJA, the Miguel Hernández University of Elche and the Rovira i Virgili University indicate the reduction of emotional problems, the improvement of the subjective quality of life and the greater regulation of emotions among the young participants, and among their families.
For their part, the Social Services of Alto Asón expressed their interest in implementing PROCARE+ in Cantabria in order to help young people at risk of suffering emotional problems or who are already suffering from them, in this academic year. In that sense, they pledged to provide contact with entities that can help families, especially the most vulnerable and in rural areas, can benefit from this initiative.
Luis Joaquín García thanked the interest of the mancomunidad of the Comarca del Alto Asón in defending the health and emotional well-being of young people in this post-pandemic stage. “It is crucial that any vulnerable young person who may be at risk of suffering emotional difficulties can receive the support they need to prevent negative consequences in their personal and professional development,” he said. “There is no health without mental health and no future without emotionally healthy young people. A resilient society needs resilient citizens.”
The PROCARE initiative is a nationwide project involving 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 Instituto de la Juventud (INJUVE) of the Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030, the Asociación Española de Ayuda Mutua contra Fobia Social y Trastornos de Ansiedad (AMTAES), the Confederación de Organizaciones de Psicopedagogía y Orientación de España (COPOE), the Youth Group of the Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gais, Trans, Bisexuales, Intersexuales y más (FELGTBI+) and the Consejo de la Juventud de España (CJE) are part of the project’s External Advisory Board.
