26 April 2023
Barcelona
IMPROVA, funded by Horizon Europe and in which Deusto is a partner, celebrated its first consortium meeting on April 200th and 21st in Barcelona, where the project was launched.
Over 48 months, 14 academic and civil society organizations from 7 European countries will work together to develop a modular eHealth intervention platform to boost mental health and well-being, early-detect possible mental health problems and prevent mental disorders among adolescents.
Promotion of mental health during adolescence is pivotal. About half of all mental health problems in adulthood have their onset before or during adolescence. Moreover, there is growing evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic and changes in our society are negatively impacting youth mental health.
Schools are prominent settings to prevent and detect mental disorders. IMPROVA will be implemented in school environments and will be co-created from the very beginning with the participation of all stakeholders - including adolescents, parents, teachers, other school staff and policymakers - to facilitate the upscaling of the program.
The University of Deusto, within the framework of the IMPROVA project, will lead the communication and dissemination work package, so its tasks will focus on the design, implementation and promotion of the Communication and Dissemination Strategy of the project. In addition, Deusto will contribute with the research work on the mental health of adolescents in the classroom, due to the outstanding expertise of the Deusto team in evidence-based school interventions for educational and social improvement.
Rocío García Carrión (Ikerbasque fellow at the University of Deusto) will lead the research team from Deusto.
About IMPROVA
IMPROVA aims to provide stakeholders and policy makers with an evidence-based, innovative, large-scale, comprehensive intervention, and scale-up plan to promote mental health and prevent mental disorders in adolescents; empower adolescents and families to make better decisions regarding their mental health; and provide schools and the community with tools to achieve a society with better mental health and lower stigma.
Project Coordinator: Fundacio Privada per a la Recerca i la Docencia Sant Joan de Deu (FSJDCERCA) Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu (PSSJD) Coordinador (Spain)
Starting date. April 1st 2023
Ending date March 31st 2027
Duration. 48 months
Total budget: 6.998.198 €
Budget for Deusto. 396.315 €
Deusto research team: Faculty of Education and Sports. Rocio García Carrión. Andrea Khalafuci and Sarah Jack
