MENTAL HEALTH EXTENSION CURRICULARIZATION ACTIVITY FOR ELEMENTARY EDUCATION STUDENTS IN THE PUBLIC EDUCATION NETWORK

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.1594132426016

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• Abstract:

  It is common knowledge that there is an increase in cases and records of psychological problems in all age groups in society, from childhood to old age. These problems can be, for example: depression, excessive anxiety, attention deficit disorders and bipolarity. With this in mind, within the practical scenario of the Extension Curricularization Activities (ACEX's), a Basic Health Unit in Curitiba was visited in order to learn about the environment that serves as an entry point for the SUS user, which was reported to be searching for health service by students from a school in the catchment area, after suicide attempts or reporting other psychological difficulties. Therefore, the need to work on mental health with adolescents at this school was noted, aiming to clarify some basic concepts and present the ways they can seek to resolve such situations before they are irreversible. To serve as many children as possible, within an hour available for work, between 1 and 2 medical students were assigned to work simultaneously in all classes, serving 150 students in total, as the objective was to address all medical classes. 6th to 9th year in the afternoon with a focus on a quality of mental health without bringing possible triggers for teenagers, it was chosen to present the most well-known emotions of everyday life in a playful way, for this the film “Inside Out” served as instrument to introduce emotions such as sadness, anger, joy, disgust and fear, which are common to feel, which for a teenager aged 11 to 17 can be interpreted as a burden beyond the ordinary, without mentioning the hormonal action in them gift. It is known that in this age range individuals go from children to actual teenagers, thus making it necessary to adapt the approach for each class, being a little subtler with the 6th and 7th year classes, and even subtly, but more realistic with 8th and 9th grade. The intervention consisted of a slide presentation with an excerpt from the film representing emotions and a series of activities focusing on them, in addition to providing clarifications about such emotions. 

  After that, a space was opened for direct questions on the topic and then a question and answer game so that students could establish the concepts and solutions presented. Although the work did not present a consistent result at the time, the school's response during the completion of the project and the students' opinions after the presentation showed a positive opinion, which will indeed be notable upon return to UBS Ipiranga and the school itself. Although the results are more evident in the long term, even before the implementation, we obtained a practical situation to be commented on. During the visit to carry out the project, there was a teenager suffering from a serious anxiety attack during class time, unable to keep up with her classmates. However, she was able to be reassured by a member of the group and soon returned to the classroom with her colleagues and even participated in the presentation, showing how such support can and could be effective from start to finish, with results still to come.