Empathy, respect, inclusion: course on understanding health and illness
The Fondazione Mondo Digitale and Janssen Italia, the pharmaceutical division of Johnson & Johnson, will experiment the first curriculum for Italian school dedicated to developing the emotional intelligence of youth with regard to respect and empathy for individuals suffering from serious ailments. This is an important social operation to stimulate a change in both culture and mentality amongst the new generations.
CONTEXT
The new edition of the HBSC Italia Study (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children, 2019) reveals a complex reality with both positive and critical data. In general, adolescents have a positive consideration of their quality of life and are satisfied about relations with their schoolmates and teachers. However, they also adopt risky behaviour and report a number of daily symptoms (nervousness, insomnia, low morale, irritability). In the 14-18 group, the age in which children acquire a greater independence from their parents, they often do not consult any doctors. Their behaviour during this phase may accompany them for the rest of their life. This is why it is important to provide them with information and models, starting at school.
OBJECTIVES
The project aims to educate young men and women to develop their emotional intelligence and to respect the diversity and uniqueness and understand that illness is part of life. In-person and on-line activities will be organized to develop respect, nearness and empathy towards those suffering from diseases and ailments. We want to reinforce the life skills of the young generations and help them face the stress of life. We want to provide school communities with the tools necessary to recognize and express their emotions, understand the emotions of others and learn the best way to ask for help. This will help us to improve the attention to the health of adolescents and avoid that diagnoses come too late.
ACTIVITIES
- Conceive and develop an educational format, producing content, materials and digital tools for schools;
- On-line kick-off event with authorities;
- On-line awareness-raising campaign on main social media on inclusion and the repsect of diversity;
- On-line education (frontal lessons when the situation will allow it) through original educational sessions in schools in six Italian Regions: Lazio, Lombardy, Piedmont, Sicily, Emilia Romagna and Veneto;
- Local regional events (on-line and physical when the situation will allow it) with experts and patient associations to focus on therapeutic areas: haematology, immunology, infectiology, oncology, lung hypertension and neuroscience;
- Final hackathon;
- Storytelling on website and social media channels.
NUMBERS
- 100,000 young men and women reached on-line throughout Italy;
- 10,000 students (aged 14-18) educated on-line (frontal lessons when the situation will allow it) in 6 Italian Regions;
- 1 kick-off event with authorities;
- 6 local events;
- 1 final national hackathon