The deputy of Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista (NC-BC) Yoné Caraballo presented this Monday Ico, the emotional companion virtual for adolescents and young people of the Archipelago. The Canarist deputy will request the support of the plenary session of the Parliament that begins tomorrow, Tuesday, for a non-law proposal so that the Canary Health Service (SCS) creates a free computer tool, available 365 days a year during the 24 hours.
An application that will have different training activities and personalized exercises aimed at improving the emotional self-esteem of children and young people. Caraballo advanced that it will have an emotional chat integrated by volunteer counselors trained and supervised by psychologists and nurses specialized in mental health.
The parliamentary spokesman on health matters presented the initiative today, at a press conference, understanding that the mental health of Canary youth is a “critical issue that has escalated in severity”, especially after the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as Caraballo explained, one in seven young people has some mental disorder and, in the Canary Islands, 60% of adolescents report problems such as anxiety and depression. This problem “is not only an individual challenge, but a social crisis that demands an immediate and coordinated response”, he stressed.
To “address this crisis we bring” this initiative with which “we propose the creation of an application for comprehensive emotional support, which we have called Ico, your emotional companion", said the NC-BC deputy.
Ico, the great aboriginal queen who was born on the island of Lanzarote in 1378, is a platform, according to Caraballo, designed specifically for young people and adolescents, which will offer a safe space to receive guidance and emotional support.
With the supervision of professionals, users will be able to access resources that help them manage their emotional well-being, as well as a way to request help when necessary through a chat.
"A chat, he reiterated, where in a first contact, volunteers with prior training, will attend to young people and adolescents who ask for help or request that necessary support", emphasized the Canarist parliamentarian.
“If it is already difficult for an adult to recognize emotional problems and pick up a telephone to call someone you don't know and tell them your emotional state, it is even more difficult for an adolescent”, he observed. Through a chat, and “at the stroke of a keyboard, we consider it much more accessible to be able to contact someone who offers you help”, defended Yoné Caraballo.
In this way, two objectives are achieved, in the opinion of Nueva Canarias-BC. On the one hand, the user “feels listened to and emotionally cared for” and, on the other hand, the SCS detects a minor “at risk of suffering from mental health problems”.
Caraballo recalled that, in the last legislature, another non-law proposal was approved in October 2022, in which it was urged to create a WhatsApp for emotional support, which would be included in Ico to further complement this application.
The computer tool, as he detailed, "would offer a range of possibilities managed and directed by artificial intelligence, such as training and guidance videos to calm anxiety, improve self-esteem and self-awareness, among others. Such as mindfulness exercises or even videos to reconcile sleep and rest. All this supervised and approved by the professional association of psychologists".
You can include, he added, "different tests so that the user can measure their emotional state, anxiety, degree of depression, fatigue and personal self-concept".
Also, offer a casuistry of several possible scenarios that may be altering the emotional state or self-esteem of the young person or adolescent. Once the option is selected, an assistant guided by artificial intelligence gives all possible tools and channels of help through professionals to improve the perception of the problem that may be altering the state of the minor or young person.
Yoné Caraballo stated that Ico is a simple simulation. But, as he emphasized, “we believe that it could be a true tool offered by the SCS for our Canary adolescents and young people, getting them to feel listened to, and offering them the emotional support they need.”
“We cannot allow the mental health of our young people to continue to be a secondary issue because they are the future. The crisis is real and requires action”, said the NC-BC parliamentarian.
