These projects were presented in the framework of a training day on health and emotional well-being of young people organized in Puente Genil by this network of municipalities of Jaén, Seville and Córdoba.
17/11/2023.- The initiatives to promote the mental health of adolescents PROCARE, PROADEMO, Digitas and Level UP have been the protagonists of a training day on health and emotional well-being in young people organized by the Participe+ Network in Puente Genil and aimed at youth technicians and professionals in the field of education.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Councilor for Youth of the City of Puente Genil, Almudena Bascón, the president of the Participe+ Network, Antonio Lara, and the youth technician of Puente Genil, Francisco Javier Ávila. Later, they were joined by the program advisor of the Andalusian Youth Institute in Cordoba, Carmen Maria Arcos, and technical staff of the Provincial Council of Seville.
Then, Manuel, Vivas, Pilar Martínez, David Jiménez, Laura Zafra and Juan Pablo Molina, researchers from the University of Jaén (UJA), under the umbrella of the Network of Excellence PROEMO (Network for the Promotion of Health and Emotional Well-being of Young People (RED2022-134247-T) have developed the keys to different projects related to the prevention of emotional problems in young people.
Firstly, the PROCARE initiative (Selective prevention through a transdiagnostic intervention for adolescents at risk of emotional problems), a pioneer worldwide in the field of prevention and personalized medicine, was presented. The UJA researchers have pointed out that “PROCARE is the first selective prevention program aimed at adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age at risk of suffering emotional problems”. Likewise, they have delved into formulas for expansion, following the example carried out in Marmolejo, the first municipality in Andalusia to implement it for the benefit of its adolescent citizens.
Secondly, the most recent advances in the PROADEMO project (‘PROmocionAnDo la salud y el bienestar EMOcional de los adolescentes en el sector educativo, sanitario y la sociedad’) and the PROEMO Network, which aim to develop materials and a roadmap for 2025 to improve the prevention and early intervention of emotional problems suffered or at risk of suffering by young people, were presented.
After a break, in third place, two projects focused on the creation of resources and tools for professionals in contact with adolescents were explained. On the one hand, Digitas, which addresses literacy in adolescent mental health, through the development of videos, podcasts or audio fiction documentaries, among other materials; and on the other, Level Up (Setting the ground for a multi-level approach on developing soft skills in Higher Education), a project led by a European consortium that aims to provide a new understanding of the transversal skills of higher education students.
All of them are research projects that have public funding at European level (Funds “Next Generation EU” within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and Erasmus+ program of the European Union) and national level (Ministry of Science and Innovation and State Research Agency).
Finally, before closing the day, a networking session was held between the thirty attendees and the research team of the UJA and the PROEMO network. This action has served to learn about their experiences and perspectives on the current situation of young people and to collect recommendations on ways to improve prevention around the emotional problems to which they are exposed, which will be taken into account in the preparation of PROADEMO materials and in the drafting of the PROEMO roadmap.
The Participe+ Network is made up of nine municipalities in the provinces of Jaén (Marmolejo, Baeza and Martos), Seville (Castilleja de Guzmán, Bollullos de la Mitación and Gines) and Córdoba (Puente Genil, Palma del Río and Cabra). It is a network focused on youth participation that aims to promote the personal and social development of young people for their empowerment and inclusion in training and the labor market.
