The Regional Secretary for Health stressed today the importance of “developing human skills, namely young people's ability to make choices” in order to prevent the consumption of psychoactive substances and addictive behaviours. 

Teresa Machado Luciano spoke at Santa Cruz da Graciosa Basic Education and Secondary School in the context of an action held under the "Resolver Acordar" project, which involved secondary school students, teachers and health professionals.

Developed in partnership with the School Health teams, this project's intervention is focused on the personal characteristics that the study on the identification of addictive behaviours in the Region, designated VIDA +, proved to be consumption protection factors. 

This project is implemented in the islands of São Miguel, Terceira and Graciosa. Its methodology has already been applied in other contexts, namely in the university and among scout groups as well as in the local development and social cohesion centres of Terra-Chã (Terceira Island), Água de Pau, Arrifes, Fenais da Ajuda and Rabo de Peixe (São Miguel Island).

The Regional Directorate for Prevention and Control of Dependencies is training professionals to apply this methodology, having already trained 25 members of School Health teams, partner entities and technicians from the Azores Youth Rehabilitation Centre.  

The primary goal is to extend the 'Resolver Acordar' project to the entire archipelago this school year. 

The Secretary for Health congratulated the professionals for the results achieved by the School Health initiative on the island of Graciosa. Moreover, she highlighted the “high rate of recommended health tests for the ages of five and 12/13, which stood at 92% last year,” as well as “the vaccination coverage for all those born between 2005 and 2012.” 

The "Resolver Acordar" project uses the Oppressed Theatre methodology, created in the 1960s, with the purpose of developing young people's personal skills as well as promoting interactivity and dialogue on issues such as alcohol and the consumption of illegal substances.