SC-SD4ASA · Interventional Guideline on Self-Care/Self-Development for Asylum-Seeking Adolescents: A Step Forward to a Sustainable Emotional and Behavioural Health

An unprecedented number of refugees arriving in Europe over the last years has made many parts of the continent face one of its most serious challenges of the century. From 2015 to 2016, about 1.3 million refugees arrived in Europe; about half of them were children under 18. The combination of forced migration and adolescence, as a strong risk factor, has a negative effect on the health of refugee adolescents. Although the search for effective ways to improve their mental health has recently gained momentum, there are still a lot of shortcomings, specifically in educational health. Using self-oriented activities to improve psychological health has rarely been considered in studies related to refugee/asylum-seeking adolescents. Therefore, with the long-term goal of improving asylum-seeking adolescents’ well-being using their potential abilities, the main objective of SC-SD4ASA is to develop a Self-care/Self-development intervention guideline, effective on asylum-seeking adolescents’ psychological and behavioral health. In this respect, special attention will be given to their specific situation, their background, the host community’s culture and resource accessibility. This project will focus on 3 main stages: needs and knowledge assessment, developing the guideline, and assessing its fidelity. The interdisciplinary nature of the project is strong, involving a combination of well-developed psychology and public/educational health promotion. The proposal includes both the transfer of knowledge to the host and the training of the candidate in new advanced approaches. Further, this study is strongly influenced by gender dimension. The guideline will be developed aiming to help individuals involved in planning, managing and promoting health among adolescents and can be used as a solid foundation for future studies in various disciplines. This project is also in line with EU strategy on promoting health as a major concern for sustainable and comprehensive development.