Adolescents and Youths' Mental Health: interfaces between care, emancipation, and health education.

• Grant number: 22/14998-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Public Health
• Principal Investigator: José Ricardo de Carvalho Mesquita Ayres
• Grantee: Isabella Silva de Almeida
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/25950-2 - Youth vulnerabilities to STI/HIV and to dating violence: evaluating a human rights based psychosocial intervention, AP.TEM

Abstract

Adolescents and young people require different sexual and reproductive health needs compared to the general population, due to the particularities of their age. However, when seeking these services, they face obstacles beyond those that are common to other individuals. The fear of the diagnosis, the preferences for the sex of the health professional, the impossibility of care without the presence of a responsible person are some of the psychosocial barriers that make it difficult to access health units. On the other hand, it has been verified the difficulty of professionals in talking about sex and the tendency to judge the sexual behavior of adolescents as obstacles to care and health promotion in these age groups. The realization of intersectoral practices involving education and health is still a challenge to be overcome. The project focuses on a program based on a multicultural perspective of human rights, supported by interventions in high schools linked to actions in basic health units of reference in the school territory covered. The intervention study involves high school students from 8 public schools and 8 basic health units located in São Paulo, Santos and Sorocaba. The permanent participation of young students, professionals from schools and health centers aims at their training to act daily as agents of integrated prevention in contexts affected by social inequalities, aggravated by the three simultaneous pandemics (STI/HIV, COVID-19 and suffering). mental). In this work front, the objective is to analyze and develop actions to recognize and face barriers and identify potentialities for the construction of synergistic actions between young people and health and school professionals to promote a comprehensive care approach for adolescents and young people.