The Professor of Psychology at the University of Jaén (UJA) and main responsible for this project for the promotion of health and emotional well-being in young people was the guest speaker at the seminar organized by the Directorate General of Youth of the Community of Madrid and the European Youth Information and Counselling Agency (ERYICA).
27/02/2023.- Luis Joaquín García, Professor of Psychology at the University of Jaén (UJA), presented the initiative ‘PROmocionAnDo la salud y bienestar EMOcional de los adolescentes en el sector educativo, sanitario y la sociedad’ (PROADEMO), in the framework of the webinar ‘Información Juvenil y Salud Mental, trabajando por la salud de los jóvenes’ (Youth Information and Mental Health, working for the health of young people). A training event aimed at workers of Youth Information Services, co-organized by the Directorate General of Youth of the Community of Madrid and the European Youth Information and Counselling Agency (ERYICA).
In this way, Luis Joaquín García developed the objectives of PROADEMO, a project financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, the State Research Agency and the European Union through the “Next Generation EU” funds within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan that has recently started.
“PROADEMO is based on the knowledge gained from the implementation of the PROCARE initiative in Spain. Through PROADEMO we are going to work on the transfer of the knowledge obtained in PROCARE to the scientific community, the education and health sectors, youth professionals and society in general, both nationally and internationally,” explained Luis Joaquín García.
More specifically, PROADEMO (PDC2022-133401-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) aims to design a complete digital training package, aimed at school personnel, youth and health workers, so that they can improve their skills and knowledge in providing mental health services to adolescents at risk of developing emotional problems in the aftermath of the pandemic; to develop a set of practical tools for healthcare, education and youth professionals to provide a high quality mental health service; and to develop an emotional support kit for young people, especially focused on adolescents and produced in collaboration with them, to provide them with information and strategies to promote resilience, protect their emotional health and well-being, and increase their emotional literacy.
At the opening of the webinar, Nikolay Yordanov, Director General of Youth of the Community of Madrid, highlighted the significant increase in emotional problems in adolescents in the wake of the pandemic and the need to improve the mental health literacy of professionals in the youth sector. Eva Reina, President of ERYICA, then emphasized the importance of working for the emotional well-being of young people and outlined ERYICA’s work in this regard through projects such as YIMINDS.
The second part of the webinar revolved around the sharing of good practices led by Youth Information Centers and told by their protagonists. Thus, Nadia Berodia and Silvia Escribano, from CPRS San Fernando de Hernares spoke about the project ‘ANIMARTE’; Vanessa Gómez, from CPRS Martínez Campos de Chamberí presented the online focus group “Que no te coman el coco”; Fran Polo, Youth technician of the Mancomunitat Camp de Túria developed his experience in the informative talks in the IES of that region; Silvia Solà of the City Council of Castellterçol and Mariona Altimira, coordinator of the Foundation La Xarranca, explained the influence of Kastell SIOAJ.
Finally, the webinar ended with the interview of Popy Ares, coordinator of Dinamización y Participación Ciudadan de Centro “Marcelino Camacho” of San Fernando de Henares, to Asier García, user of that center who suffered bullying in high school, has problems of phobias and anxiety and currently benefits from psychological support.
