The Cabildo Celebrates the Fourth Meeting of the Multidisciplinary Mental Health and Healthy Lifestyle Task Group
The meeting addressed new preventative actions aimed at enhancing health education, promoting healthy lifestyle habits, and supporting emotional well-being across various population groups.
Yesterday (Thursday), the Plenary Hall of the Cabildo de Tenerife hosted the fourth meeting of the Multidisciplinary Task Group dedicated to promoting and coordinating island-wide actions in mental health and healthy lifestyle habits. This initiative, led by the Department of Education for Prevention, continues to establish itself as a strategic space for designing, monitoring, and evaluating public policies that foster prevention, emotional and physical well-being among citizens.
The meeting was presided over by Juan Acosta, Councillor for Education for Prevention; Verónica Messeguer, Director General of the Elderly and Active Participation for the Government of the Canary Islands; and Diana Mora, Director of the Health Area in Tenerife. Attendees emphasised the importance of this group as a key tool for inter-institutional and inter-professional coordination, facilitating discussions on common objectives, sharing experiences, resources, and strategies among the various stakeholders involved in promoting health, and generating synergies to enhance the impact of the actions undertaken.
One of the central points of the meeting was the progress of the FARO Project, which continues to expand territorially with the inclusion of new municipalities and the strengthening of its research process. This project has proven to have a transformative effect on the communities where it is implemented by facilitating access to educational tools, active listening spaces, and intervention resources that help detect, prevent, and address situations of vulnerability. FARO has become a benchmark in the promotion of community mental health, owing to its modular, flexible approach tailored to local realities.
During the meeting, new preventative actions were also introduced, aimed at enhancing health education, promoting healthy lifestyle habits, and supporting emotional well-being among various population groups. In this context, Councillor Juan Acosta highlighted that “this task group is a crucial tool for coordination and information, especially when all institutions are involved. When we share resources, the outcomes improve.” He added that “preventative policies are gaining more importance than ever, and it is our responsibility to strengthen them at the grassroots level with solid health education that empowers citizens and fosters healthier, more resilient environments.”
The meeting saw active and diverse participation from technical representatives and service heads from multiple key entities in the health, education, and social intervention sectors. These included the General Directorate of Public Health, the General Directorate of Mental Health and Addictions, the General Directorate of the Elderly and Active Participation, the Primary Care Management of the Health Area of Tenerife along with its health promotion structure and Screening Point, the Official College of Pharmacists of Tenerife, the Official College of Psychology of Tenerife, professionals in Psychiatry and Mental Health, the Canary Federation for Mental Health, the Vice-Ministry of Education, the Insular Directorate of Equality and Diversity, and the Institute for Social and Socio-Health Care (IASS). This institutional diversity reflects the collective commitment to public health and the need to address current challenges from a multidisciplinary and collaborative perspective.
This meeting reaffirms the commitment of the Cabildo de Tenerife to mental health and the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits, consolidating a collaborative work model that places prevention, coordination, and health education as fundamental pillars of public policies on the island. The focus on prevention not only improves the population’s quality of life but also strengthens the healthcare system, reduces the care burden, and promotes a culture of health based on knowledge, participation, and shared responsibility.
