The professor at the University of Jaén and head of the PROEMO Network presented the keys to this program for the prevention and promotion of health and emotional wellbeing of young people.
4/12/2022.- Luis Joaquín García, professor at the University of Jaén (UJA) and head of the PROEMO Network, presented the impact of the PROCARE initiative (Selective prevention through a transdiagnostic intervention for adolescents at risk of emotional problems) to representatives of the municipalities of Gines, Bollullos de la Mitación and Castilleja de Guzmán, Sevillian members of the Participe+ Andalucía network.
Specifically, Luis Joaquín García met online with the Mayor of Castilleja de Guzmán, Mª del Mar Rodríguez, the Councilor for Youth, Volunteering and Civil Protection of the City of Gines, Antonio Lara Falcón, the Councilor for Youth, Sports, Education and Local Development of the City of Bollullos de la Mitación, Manuel Varilla, and technical staff of the Youth area of the three councils, specifically, Sonia Rebollo, Mili del Olmo and Sacramento González.
In this way, Luis Joaquín García explained the keys to the first transdiagnostic program of selective prevention at an international level aimed at young people between 12 and 18 years of age at risk of suffering emotional problems. An initiative that in 2021 helped more than 1,500 adolescents throughout Spain, and in 2023 has contributed to improving the emotional health of more than a thousand young people in the Balearic Islands. It is currently being implemented in Marmolejo, a municipality in Jaén that is also integrated in the Participe+ Network.
“The results of the intervention carried out by experts indicate the drastic reduction of emotional problems, the improvement of the subjective quality of life and the greater regulation of emotions among the young participants, and the benefit for their families,” said the UJA professor.
In turn, Luis Joaquín García stressed the importance of prevention, especially in the field of child and adolescent mental health. “There is no health without mental health and there is no future without emotionally healthy young people. In that sense, a resilient society needs resilient citizens,” he concluded.
For their part, the three city councils of Seville showed their concern and interest in the mental health and emotional well-being of their young population, especially adolescents. In that sense, they showed their satisfaction in this first contact to learn about the PROCARE initiative and the potential benefits of its implementation jointly between their municipalities.
PROCARE (PID 2019-111138RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) is a project funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, with the participation of professionals from the Department of Psychology of the UJA, Rovira i Virgili University, 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+), the Consejo de la Juventud de España (CJE) and the Fundación Princesa de Girona are part of the project’s External Advisory Board.
