Health promotion and resilience in adolescents at school level

Abstract

This project arises from the need to sort out the different problems appearing in the process of growth and development of adolescents al school level. For this work we took into consideration four schools located in the Province of Córdoba. It refers to a transverse field work which was carried out in two stages during the year 2005. In the first stage, we made a diagnosis about the risk and protection factors in the young as well as the behaviors derived from them. We applied an anonymous survey based on the California Healthy Kids Survey - Bilingual version 2003. In order to select the subjects we made a stratified sample in each institution, with a total of 382 students of both sexes who attend the CBU (Unified Basic Level) and the CE (Specialization Level). In the second stage, we worked with students of 4th and 5th year in workshops to train health promotion leaders and we also held workshops with teachers, proctors and principals. It is our goal to research about the factors and risk behaviors in the students. Our target is to improve the quality of life by reinforcing the health conditions and its determinants. The results conclude that the empowerment of the young and the educational community, trough their participation in the building of individual and collective capacities, brings about a higher knowledge of the risk and protection factors. These protection factors will generate resilience which influences in the maintenance, control and self-care of health. Through the dialogue, the educational institution supports the transference of subject matters together with the learning of problem solving strategies. Thus the school will promote critical thinking and creativity, the acknowledgment of the rights and duties as well as the recognition of the possibilities and limitations to promote a responsible autonomy.