On 6 and 7 October, all members of the consortium met telematically due to the travel restrictions established in the countries by COVID-19.
The fifth plenary meeting has served to review the activities carried out in recent months and to identify, discuss, agree and plan the most immediate actions in order to meet the commitments made to the European Commission in UPRIGHT. Kronikgune, project coordinator at European level, began the meeting by highlighting and thanking the effort made by the participants at a time of great uncertainty, difficulties and restrictions implemented by the governments that have directly affected the project. Their effort in developing the contingency plan and adapting the pilots to the needs and situation of the schools has been essential to ensure the smooth running of the project.
UPRIGHT “Universal Preventive Resilience Intervention Globally implemented in schools to improve and promote mental Health for Teenagers” seeks to increase the resilience capacity of adolescents between 12 and 14 years of age. The psycho-educational programme developed in the project, aimed at adolescents, their families and the school community, works to strengthen the confidence and cognitive function of this population through empowerment in four skills: (i) coping, (ii) efficacy, (iii) social and emotional learning, and (iv) mindfulness practice. The programme has had to be adapted to the online modality due to the closure of educational centres.
Kronikgune has shown the e-learning system that has been proposed in the Basque Country as a tool for teacher training in the manual “Well-being for all”. This system has been very well accepted by the teachers, who have been very participative, as it allows greater flexibility when it comes to receiving training (the person decides the time and place to download the sessions). It has been presented as a good solution to facilitate the implementation of the intervention in other schools, once the project is finished.
Bruno Kessler Foundation (Italy) has been in charge of presenting the analysis of the implementation data collected in the intervention. The evaluation team of the Kronikgune project presented the analysis of the quantitative and qualitative evaluation. Data collected at the beginning of the intervention (baseline time) related to satisfaction with the intervention, feeling of change in the school environment or their perception of the change in their well-being and resilience were collected and analysed. Preliminary data on the impact that COVID-19 has had on some mental health variables in adolescents were also presented.
Finally, the second meeting of the external ethics advisory committee was held. The meeting focused on presenting the impact that the pandemic has had on UPRIGHT and on how a contingency plan has been designed to allow the continuation of the programme in educational centres, while at the same time being able to evaluate its effectiveness using quantitative and qualitative tools.
The proactive and collaborative atmosphere in which the fifth assembly was held has allowed decisions to be taken, which will undoubtedly ensure the success of the next actions planned until January 2021.
If you want to keep up to date with all the activities developed in the project, visit its official website: www.uprightproject.eu or follow it @Uprightproject1.
