EDITORIAL EDITORIAL
Life quality promotion to childhood and adolescence
In order to understand the development process, acquiring skills and adapting children or adolescents to their surroundings, a good knowledge of family interactions and the social and cultural context is required, in addition to the changes that have swept through these contexts. During the past few decades, these alterations have affected the quality of family and community relationships, with contradictions in social and cultural aspects making the behavior of boys and girls part of this transformation process.
Promoting health and well-being during childhood and adolescence is a challenge, particularly considering that actions and practices designed to enhance the well-being of these segments of the population involve aspects related to the macro and micro environments. Noteworthy among them are core social factors (healthcare and education systems, work, social development and rights that are vital for the social integration of families) that constitute areas for sharing experiences, training and intervention; in addition to determining factors rooted in the family (influenced by the social and cultural context), as well as personal and individual aspects.
Within the context of protecting and promoting the quality of life during childhood and adolescence, the role of "adults" is particularly important. This applies at the micro level (parents, teachers, others), as well as in macro settings - particularly those providing families with care and assistance, such as public health practitioners - through implementing effective actions that upgrade clinical health aspects while also fostering development skills that pave the way for social integration. This process allows children and adolescents to recognize "model adults" and develop into healthy people who can take care of their own children.
This themed issue features contributions from colleagues in many parts of Brazil, as well as Canada (Montreal, Quebec), working in the fields of public health and psycho-education. Representing many different entities (universities, health systems), as well as research groups and units, these practitioners are partners in this project, adding their efforts in the hopes of better health and well-being for everyone.
The structure of the discussion section is sized to the scope of some of the topics, taking into account a wide variety of geographical, social and cultural contexts. High priority was assigned to the multiple aspects of child and adolescent care in terms of enhancing the quality of life, as well as personal and collective resilience. The responsibilities of "adults" are stressed, together with their specific roles and social and personal representations, in terms of risk factors and the protection of physical and emotional integrity, in parallel to the development of skills as adolescents grow to maturity.
The section devoted to research papers presents some experiences in the area of children's and adolescents' health, mainly in the public health field, in different geographical, social and cultural contexts.
This underscores the importance of the actions of each "adult", as a relative, practitioner or community representative, in addition to work and protection networks or groups, ensuring that boys and girls have the opportunity to grow and acquire the skills they need, empowering them to care for the next generation.
Maria Conceição Oliveira Costa and Marc Bigras
Guest Editors
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
07 Aug 2007 -
Date of issue
Oct 2007
