Life skills as a pedagogical health strategy

Abstract

In this article the authors present us with the approach of the social determinants of health, together with the salutogenic gaze and the work of life skills to better understand the life and emotional journey of young people in migration contexts, fleeing from stereotyped and paternalistic views. The authors consider it key to provide spaces for children and young people to develop their life skills, which are those skills needed to achieve adaptive behaviour that allows them to effectively meet the demands and challenges of
daily life. They also argue that recent research conducted with migrant children and young people without adult references in Ireland found that the idea of continuity and giving meaning to their lives helped them, in most cases, in their personal identity processes, and
it helped them increase their resilience. Hence the value they give to the work of the 10 life skills and to the strengthening of the Sense of Coherence. Finally, the authors present how these skills work, giving as an example the program “Be you, tools and assets for
health” of Dipsalut.