Walce - Women Against Lung Cancer in Europe has joined the Factor J partnership this year. Among its institutional objectives, there are educational and information activities, but what was the impact of the meetings with students? We asked Stefania Vallone who sits on the Directive Council of the organisation.
Factor J puts health literacy back at the centre of the educational process, involving students’ cognitive, social and emotional skills. What degree of awareness do you believe they have on issues concerning wellbeing and health?
The lockdowns and restrictions imposed by the pandemic obliged students to pay attention to health issues and consequently created a greater awareness on the consequences of their choices. Distance learning provided both a tool and a stimulus to become actors of their own existence and health.
What aspects of health do you think should be emphasised at school?
We believe that it is important to emphasise primary prevention and keep attention high on the importance of adopting, from adolescence, healthy lifestyles as an investment on health, a unique and precious treasure that should be safeguarded and promoted. Initial knowledge is acquired at school and education should orient youth towards a culture promoting the development of healthy nourishment and sports. It should help students not to light that first cigarette. It’s important to provide adequate tools and transmit educational models and messages that orient them towards a healthy lifestyle they will be able to project into adulthood.
Another aspect that must be reinforced in our society and that must be promoted from a young age is the respect for people suffering from pathologies that must be considered as individuals and not identified with their disease. Moreover, it is fundamental to understand that certain disease may occur at any point in our lives and cannot simply be looked upon as the “problem” of those suffering them
Generation Z and illness: do they have the same fear and fragilities? How has your job changed in working with patients and their families?
There have been important changes in the last ten years on issues concerning lung cancer:
- The advent of new therapeutic approaches has prolonged the lives of patients.
- The number of young men and women being diagnosed with lung tumours is on the rise.
These two factors have driven us to develop new activities and services to face the emerging needs of young people with longer life expectancies. We have changed our communication channels, which are now far more digital, as well as our style of communication, as patients are far more informed and aware nowadays.
Project Factor J, promoted by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale with Janssen Italia, the pharmaceutical branch of the Johnson & Johnson Group, aims to improve trust in the progress of science amongst youth, raising their awareness on the importance of correct scientific information and responsible behaviour for everyone’s health.
