We continue to explore the collaborative network of Project Factor J, the first curriculum for Italian school promoted by Janssen Italia to educate young men and women on emotional intelligence, respect and empathy towards individuals suffering due to distress and disease. And we do it by turning the word over to the patient associations that hold the educational sessions with schools. Ugo Viora, President of the “Associazione nazionale Gli amici per la pelle” (ANAP), starts with the issue of health literacy
“In terms of health literacy, the sensation is that we are in an initial phase. Young men and women have an absolute need for their emotional, cognitive and social involvement (and by social we mean helping others) to be stimulated. They need to learn to receive these stimuli. Indeed, their degree of awareness is still very low, and wellbeing and health do not appear to be interconnected, as if they were two separate issues that should be faced separately,” explains the ANAP President.
“Project Factor J is working to increase the awareness of young men and women on the possibility that anyone could suddenly shift from being well to having a disease. We must understand the active role that we should play in such a situation. We should pay utmost attention to signals that are more or less evident and conduct active prevention through adequate lifestyles (no alcohol abuse, all types of smoking, junk food, excessive noise, abuse of videogaming, etc.) and divulge information on the less known diseases.”
Due to the measures in place to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, Factor J educational sessions are held on-line on collaborative platforms. “Every meeting is a new experience,” explains Ugo Viora. “It’s interesting to note how the desire to open up and speak about one’s experiences mostly happens on the chat.”
Youth “tend to have a sense of invincibility, as if the disease were around them, but at a distance. It’s probably an attempt to exorcize it, as if being sick were a condition of inferiority compared to healthy people.”
“Factor J è is a fantastic opportunity to face new issues and new ways in which to communicate them, as well as to verify our theses. Although short, the exchange of experiences and knowledge with the facilitators always allows us to learn something new and look at things from a different point of view. Factor J is a journey through a world you are certain you know, but that really is a continuous pleasant surprise,” concludes Ugo Viora.
Per le misure di contenimento dell'emergenza sanitaria le sessioni formative di Fattore J si svolgono online, su piattaforme collaborative. "Ogni incontro è un’esperienza nuova", spiega Ugo Viora. "Ed è interessante notare come la disponibilità ad aprirsi e raccontare le proprie esperienze si manifesti quasi esclusivamente sulla chat".
Nei più giovani "aleggia un senso di invincibilità, come se la malattia fosse intorno ai ragazzi, ma sempre lontana. Ritengo sia un tentativo di esorcizzare la perdita di salute, quasi l’essere malato sia una condizione di inferiorità rispetto ai sani".
"Fattore J è un’occasione fantastica per affrontare nuove temi e nuove vie con cui comunicarle, ma è anche un momento di verifica della validità delle nostre tesi. Il sia pur breve scambio di esperienze e conoscenze con i facilitatori ci consente di imparare ogni volta qualcosa di nuovo e di essere sempre pronti a metterci in discussione. Fattore è un viaggio in un mondo che sei convinto di conoscere, ma è una continua piacevole scoperta", conclude Ugo Viora.
