The program has been developed within the framework of the European project UPRIGHT, whose main objective is to increase the resilience of adolescents.
UPRIGHT “Universal Preventive Resilience Intervention Globally implemented in schools to improve and promote mental Health for Teenagers” is a European project funded by the Horizon 2020 program of the European Commission. The project aims to promote mental well-being and prevent mental illness through increasing the resilience of adolescents (12 and 14 years old). The project kicked off in 2018 and ends this 2021. Over three years, UPRIGHT has implemented a holistic and universal intervention aimed at strengthening the personal confidence and cognitive function of young people, and empowering them in (i) coping skills, (ii) efficacy, (iii) social and emotional learning, and (iv) mindfulness practice. The intervention has been carried out through two psycho-educational programs: “Well-being for us” and “Well-being for all”, and has been validated in 17 educational centers located in five European regions: Trento, Denmark, the Reykjavik area, Lower Silesia and the Basque Country.
The “Wellness for Us” program is aimed at the adolescent population, a critical stage in a person’s maturational development. This is a time of multiple physical, neurological, biological, cognitive and social changes, which also makes it a vulnerable period for intervention and the generation of positive and lasting changes. The UPRIGHT program recognizes that in order to be effective with adolescents, it is also important to act in their closest circle, their family, their teachers, and the educational center they attend. For this reason, the Wellness for Us program is also aimed at these groups, family and educational personnel.
“Wellness for Us and Ourselves” seeks primarily for each individual to acquire resilience skills and put them into practice. To this end, it trains and works individually with teachers, adolescents and their families on various skills and values, such as empowerment, empathy, creativity, perseverance, physical, psychological and social well-being, the fight against the stigma of mental illness, positive social relationships or pro-social behaviors. The program aims to change the attitude of adolescents in the face of adversity into a more resilient one, thus equipping adolescents, their families and teachers with personal and social skills to cushion the negative impact that these adversities have on their lives.
The program trains and works on four resilient competencies, which are trained through 18 skills. The formation and training in these components and their skills is done through various dynamic and group activities elaborated with different teaching methodologies to make them more dynamic, different and entertaining. Some methods are reflection questions, discussion groups, brainstorming, use of dilemmas, role playing, stories, photos and videos for discussion, or creative writing.
In total 2845 adolescents, 2430 families and 396 teachers in the five UPRIGHT pilot regions have received the Wellness for Us and We program between 2018 to 2020. The program is available in seven languages (Spanish, Basque, English, Italian, Polish, Icelandic and Danish), and from 2022 will be public and available to anyone interested in improving adolescent resilience.
If you want to keep up to date with all the activities developed in the project, visit their official website: www.uprightproject.eu or follow them at @Uprightproject1.
