The UJA PROCARE team presented the benefits of this program for the prevention and promotion of health and emotional well-being of young people.
15/02/2024.- The PROCARE team and the PROEMO Network of the University of Jaén (UJA) met with representatives of the Provincial Council of Córdoba to discuss the possible implementation of the PROCARE initiative (Selective Prevention through Transdiagnostic Intervention for Adolescents at Risk of Emotional Problems) in the province of Córdoba.
This telematic meeting was attended by the Professor of Psychology at UJA and main responsible for PROCARE and the PROEMO Network, Luis Joaquín García, UJA researchers José Antonio Muela, Lourdes Espinosa, David Jiménez, Laura Zafra and Jesús Sánchez, together with the Head of the Department of Youth and Sports of the Provincial Council of Córdoba, Alberto Tejeda, and the coordinator of programs of the Youth and Sports area, Antonio Cazallo.
In this way, David Jiménez, Laura Zafra, José Antonio Muela and Lourdes Espinosa explained the keys to the first transdiagnostic program of selective prevention at an international level aimed at young people between the ages of 12 and 18 who are at risk of suffering emotional problems. In their presentation, they broke down the functioning by phases and modules of an initiative that in 2021 helped more than 1,500 adolescents throughout Spain, in 2023 contributed to improving the emotional health of more than a thousand young people in the Balearic Islands, and is currently being implemented in the municipality of Marmolejo in Jaén.
As for Luis Joaquín García, in his speech, he emphasized the results obtained with PROCARE, which 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”.
The Provincial Council of Cordoba showed its special concern for the problems of mental health and emotional well-being of the adolescent population today. They also expressed their interest in learning more about the benefits of implementing the PROCARE initiative. Specifically, a commitment was made to study the technical and budgetary feasibility of implementing the PROCARE initiative in favor of Cordovan adolescents at risk of suffering from any type of emotional problem.
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), attached to the Ministry of Youth and Children, 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.
