The professor of the University of Jaén and main responsible for ‘PROCARE’ presented the results of this project among adolescents in Extremadura.
7/10/2022.- The professor of the University of Jaén (UJA) and main responsible of ‘PROCARE’, Luis Joaquín García, presented the impact of this initiative to promote mental health in young people to Montserrat Tudela, responsible for project management of the Youth Institute (INJUVE) in Extremadura.
In his meeting by videoconference, Luis Joaquín García developed 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. She also explored with her interlocutors the implementation of the PROCARE+ and PROCARE-I initiatives in young people in Extremadura through the training of mental health professionals in the Mental Health Units in the autonomous community of Extremadura.
“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 their families”, explains Luis Joaquín García.
For their part, INJUVE Extremadura committed to the dissemination and diffusion of the videos produced by the ‘PROCARE’ researchers among the users of the youth centers that are part of their network. In the same way, they undertook to study the possible implementation of this initiative to help young people at risk of suffering emotional problems or who are already suffering from them.
Luis Joaquín García thanked INJUVE Extremadura for its interest in defending the health and emotional wellbeing of young people in this post-pandemic stage. “It is crucial that any vulnerable young person who may be at risk of 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 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 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.
