scholarly journals Danish ‘add-in’ school-based health promotion: integrating health in curriculum time

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. e70-e77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Bentsen ◽  
Ane H Bonde ◽  
Mikkel B Schneller ◽  
Dina Danielsen ◽  
Maria Bruselius-Jensen ◽  
...  

Summary Schools provide an important setting for health promotion and health education. In countries where health education is not a specific subject, it is typically undertaken by teachers in health-integrating subjects such as biology, home economics or physical education. More ambitious and holistic frameworks and whole school approaches such as health promoting schools have been considered best practice for the past three decades. Recently, more attention has been given to policy initiatives integrating health activities into school curriculum time. This paper discusses potentials and challenges of school-based health promotion applying an ‘add-in’ approach, that integrates health activities into teachers’ curricular obligations without taking time away from them, based on a presentation of three Danish cases. This may serve as a supplement to health promotion activities that have been initiated over and above the day-to-day teaching (add-on). We contend that an ‘add-in’ approach to school health promotion provides a potential win–win situation where both health and core education stand to gain; makes it possible to reach a wider range of schools; mobilizes additional resources for health promotion; and leads to more sustainable activities. However, potential limitations including not addressing structural aspects of health promotion and reliance on a relatively limited evidence base should also be considered.

2016 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felicity Thomas ◽  
Peter Aggleton

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the evidence base to support whole school approaches. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conduct a review of published evaluations and evidence syntheses across six areas in the international health-promoting schools literature. Findings – Although whole school approaches are often advocated in literature and policy on health-promoting schools, the evidence base for their effectiveness is partial and is often health topic specific. This paper reviews the evidence base across six different health-related areas, namely: sexual health; bullying; alcohol and drug use; mental health; school connectedness; and access to services. It identifies commonalities in learning, enabling a confluence of evidence on the factors central to the provision of effective health education and support within schools. Whilst findings endorse a whole school approach, they also suggest that some of the more subtle evidence-based principles on which such approaches are underpinned are not generally explicitly reflected in practice. Originality/value – The paper offers the first cross-topic synthesis of findings on health education effects and effectiveness in six health-related areas, to identify commonalities in learning. Findings contribute to the evidence base for the use of a whole school approach when undertaking health education in schools.


2021 ◽  
pp. 001789692110135
Author(s):  
Emily Darlington ◽  
Julien Masson

Background: Capacity building and community-level participation are important to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of health promotion programmes, as well as to promote empowerment and decision-making power. However, stakeholders’ participation in the design and implementation of health promotion projects often involves the provision of information and consultation rather than partnership or citizen control, especially in school settings. Co-creation could be a means to support higher levels of participation, yet its definition remains unclear. A further challenge relates to the methods needed to promote participation. Examining what co-creation represents for health promoters could help in both of these respects. Objectives and goals: This study explored how school health promotion professionals perceived and defined co-creation to gain insight into how to encourage co-creation processes in school-based health promotion. Methods: Qualitative data including documents and illustrations were collected during creative thinking activities undertaken with school health promotion professionals. All data collected were transcribed and analysed using a three-stage screening process. Results: Co-creation is a multi-dimensional construct. Based on our findings, it is a voluntary-based process of bottom-up collaboration informed by values of diversity, mutual trust, openness, autonomy, freedom, respect and shared expertise, responsibility and decision-making. Co-creation can result in out-of-the-box, new or improved tailored health-promoting practices and projects, which address a co-defined need, for the benefit of all members of the group. Conclusion: Co-creation is timely and key in school health promotion practices. Further research is needed into the specific competences needed to promote co-creation, as well as the methods used to evaluate achievements and added value of co-creation at different levels of implementation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 119 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 341-349
Author(s):  
Laura Ionescu ◽  
Lacramioara Ursache ◽  
Adelina Nicolae ◽  
Adriana Conea ◽  
Cristian Potora ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on parents of children with hearing disabilities from Romania and has three objectives. First, it assesses their characteristics regarding use of communication technology. Second, it investigates their opinions regarding the importance of school-based education for healthy lifestyle promotion among their children. Third, it evaluates the availability for their involvement in educational activities using face-to-face approach and communication technology dedicated to helping parents to promote healthy lifestyle among their children, as well as factors which influence this availability. Design/methodology/approach The study was performed in October–November 2015 in two schools deserving children with hearing disabilities from North-West part of Romania. Anonymous questionnaire were filled in by 182 parents. Findings The majority of parents recognize the importance of school-based health education and more than 77 per cent totally agree that it should include issues regarding healthy nutrition, promotion of physical activity and smoking prevention. In total, 80.2 per cent of the parents declared that they are interested to participate in educational activities organized periodically at school and 66.5 per cent declared their interest in educational activities developed through communication technology in order to help them to stimulate the adoption of healthy lifestyle among their children. The availability was influenced by residence, educational level, understanding the importance of parents’ involvement, characteristics regarding the use of communication technology. Originality/value This represents the first study from Romania investigating the opinions and availability for their involvement with regard to school health education among parents of children with hearing deficiencies. The results have several implications for health education among children with hearing deficiencies and their parents.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-188
Author(s):  
Oktia Woro Kasmini Handayani ◽  
Doune Macdonald ◽  
Louise McCuaig ◽  
Tandiyo Rahayu ◽  
Irwan Budiono ◽  
...  

Obesity has been increasing as much as twice on age 6-12 years. The increase is happening both in Indonesia and Australia. The objective of this research is to construct a program model in Australia that can be substituted to be a health promotion model at School in effort to suppress child obesity. Research was conducted in 2014 with qualitative approach. Instruments used are as follow 1) Secondary data filling form 2) In depth interview guidence instrument 3) FGD (Focus Group Discussion) and BST (Brain Storming Technique). The informations were obtained by purposive and snowball technique. Data analysis by Miles and Huberman model. Substitution model is based on consideration that applied model has potential to be developed and other models whether internal or external ones in Indonesia. The model will be substituted by considering school condition and situation. School Health Unit (SKU) is a potential platform to promote health by these activities 1) Formal health education as taken place curricullum 2) Informal health education in forms of (1) health education information (2) Self health behaviour monitoring and control (3) Health promotion by doing healthy life (4) distribution of health education booklet to teachers and parents.


Author(s):  
Jayanthi Sureshbabu ◽  
Senthilvel Vasudevan ◽  
Priyanka Raj

Background: School health education programs provide a convenient platform for engaging the students in health promotion activities. Public health problems like mosquito borne diseases cannot be controlled without active participation of the community and students are a resourceful component of the community who can be encouraged to take up activities to control mosquito borne diseases in the community.Methods: School-based cross-sectional study was conducted in December 2010 to March 2011 among 508 school students selected at random from students studying in the eighth to tenth standard. P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: Totally 508 students were included in this study. The number of students unaware of the stages in the mosquito life cycle and the mosquito’s resting habits reduced from 420 (82.68%) to 19 (3.74%) and 103 (20.28%) to 13 (2.56%) respectively. The number of students with correct knowledge of the biting habits of the female mosquito and personal protection (PP) measures increased from 31.69% to 97.05% with statistically highly significant (p <0.0001) and 52.95% to 74.21% respectively.Conclusions: The present study suggested that the school health education program is effective in creating awareness and increasing the knowledge regarding mosquito borne diseases among school children and possibilities of successfully engaging the community at large in the fight against mosquito borne diseases. The need would be to sustain this activity and implement it in schools as part of the vector borne disease control programme.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Göran Gerdin ◽  
Rod Philpot ◽  
Wayne Smith ◽  
Katarina Schenker ◽  
Kjersti Mordal Moen ◽  
...  

We currently find ourselves living in precarious times, with old and new social inequities on the rise due to the challenges associated with an unprecedented rise of global migration and neoliberalism, amplified in our post COVID-19 world. Research has demonstrated that there is a high correlation between inequality at the societal level and the overall health and wellbeing of individuals within those societies. We believe that school health and physical education (HPE) has a significant role to play in addressing and acting on social inequities that impact on the wellbeing of both students and society as a whole. Based on the findings of an international research project called EDUHEALTH which explored pedagogies for social justice in school health and physical education (HPE) across Sweden, Norway and New Zealand, this paper aims to highlight the addressing of (in)equality and student wellbeing through HPE practice. In particular, the paper presents nine different but complementary pedagogies for social justice that we believe can improve individual, collective, and societal wellbeing. We conclude by proposing that, if adopted across a whole school curriculum, these nine pedagogies for social justice could form the basis of a holistic school-wide community approach aimed at improving both student and societal wellbeing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 834-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Mann ◽  
David K. Lohrmann

The long-held priority of teaching young people the knowledge and skills needed for healthy living has recently been diminished in many preK-12 schools. Driven by federal and state priorities, laws, and policies associated with high-stakes testing, instruction in untested subjects has been reduced or eliminated in most schools in order to devote more attention to tested subjects, like reading, math, writing, and science. This article proposes a pathway to ensure that all children are able to learn what society knows about health. To that end, four challenges to the reliable, large-scale implementation of effective school health education are identified: (1) establishing school health education as an undeniable social and cultural priority through improved advocacy; (2) strengthening educational institutions’ capacities to reliably deliver large-scale, high-quality, school-based health education; (3) collaboratively coordinating efforts of health-promoting governmental and nongovernmental organizations that generate thought leadership for school health education; and (4) creating multidisciplinary research capacities for solving problems associated with the implementation of reliable, large-scale, effective school health education. By implementing specific strategies associated with each challenge, health educators can promote the social and system-level conditions required to support, elevate, and ensure delivery of effective health education to every student in every school every year.


Author(s):  
Collin A. Webster ◽  
Genee Glascoe ◽  
Chanta Moore ◽  
Brian Dauenhauer ◽  
Cate A. Egan ◽  
...  

School administrator involvement is recognized as a key factor in the extent to which school health promotion programs and initiatives are successfully implemented. The aims of this scoping review are to: (a) Identify existing documents that contain recommendations regarding the involvement of school administrators in school-based health promotion; (b) distill and summarize the recommendations; (c) examine differences in the recommendations by targeted professional level, professional group, health promotion content focus, and by whether the recommendations are evidence-based or opinion-based; and (d) evaluate the research informing the recommendations. We drew upon the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines to conduct the review. Our team conducted a comprehensive literature search with no date or geographic restrictions from January 2018 through April 2018 using four electronic databases: Academic Search Complete, Google Scholar, Physical Education Index, and PubMed. Eligibility criteria included any online documents, in English, that contained recommendations targeting school administrators’ (e.g., principals, assistant principals, superintendents) involvement (e.g., support, endorsement, advocacy) in school health programming (e.g., physical activity, nutrition, wellness). The search yielded a total of 1225 records, which we screened by title, then by abstract, and finally by full text, resulting in 61 records that met inclusion criteria. Data (e.g., recommendations, targeted contexts, targeted administrators) from these records were extracted for a content analysis. Included records contained 80 distinct recommendations, which we summarized into three themes (Collaboration, Advocacy, and Support) using a content analysis. Separate content analyses revealed no qualitative differences in the recommendations by professional level, professional group, or content focus, or by whether the recommendations were evidence-based or opinion-based. Twenty-one of the included records were peer-reviewed research articles. Using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), we appraised qualitative research articles the highest and mixed methods research articles the lowest. This review provides a basis for future research and professional practice aiming to increase school administrators’ involvement in school-based health promotion.


Author(s):  
Alice Yuen Loke ◽  
Yim-wah Mak ◽  
Cynthia ST Wu ◽  
Yuen-ting Wong

Abstract Background: Peer-led school-based anti-smoking programs have been shown to affect the smoking behaviors of students. The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a school-based peer-led live theater production advocating a smoke-free life. Methods: This is a cross-section design study. Students from the drama club were recruited as School Health Ambassadors (SHAs). The SHAs were to involve in a theater production in advocating a smoke-free life, and were provided a health education workshop from the project team on facts relating to smoking and smoke-free life. All the students in the school were to watch the theater production as school peer audience members (SPAs). Comparison will be made between the two groups of students in their attitude and decision towards living a smoke-free life after being involved in the theater production or in watching the drama. Results: A total of 409 students, 21 SHAs, and 388 SPAs were included in the project. Both the SHAs and the SPAs reported confidently about their ability to resist offers or temptation to smoke, and were determined to live a smoke-free life and refrain from smoking the first cigarette. Conclusions: A peer-led theater production advocating a smoke-free life shows some effects on students’ attitude and decision to resist offers and the temptation to smoke, and to come to the decision to live a smoke-free life and refrain from smoking the first cigarette.


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