Global Health Promotion

Views of Health Promotion Online

www.vhpo.net

Dialogues in Progress

CompHP

Developing competencies and professional standards for health promotion capacity building in Europe

Promoting Health in Schools

This project is developed with support from CDC's Division for Adolescent and School Health

Schools can make a substantial contribution to young people's health and well-being, and subsequently in the adult life. A range of strategies and programmes (Health Promoting Schools, Comprehensive School Health, Child Friendly Schools and the FRESH initiative) that share a connecting thread of a Whole School Approach have evolved in the last twenty years, recognizing that all aspects of the life of the school community are potentially important in the promotion of health. This approach goes beyond health education classes in the curriculum and explores how schools can fulfill their potential in promoting the health of all our young people.

In the current context, it appears there is a developing understanding of the interlinked relationship between school education and health, reflected by the prominence given to school education in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and the increasing need for equitable health in all settings.

The IUHPE is actively engaged in these global efforts through a number of activities aiming:

to highlight the unique potential of schools to promote both health and education outcomes, based on a solid body of evidence developed in the past;
to contribute to reducing unacceptable health inequities that exist in our world; and

to address the issues that hinder more effective school health, including encouraging dialogue and endorsement by health and education officials, and building capacity and advancing knowledge in low- and middle-income countries.

Publications

Global Portrait on School Health Promotion
Achieving Health Promoting Schools: Guidelines for Promoting Health in Schools
Promoting Health in Schools: from evidence to action

School Health References

Collaboration with ISHN

An International Collaboration on Teacher Training
& Education in Health Promotion & Health Education

A one page summary of the work

School Health links

This page is also available in French

Cette page est aussi disponible en Français

Global Portrait of School Health Promotion

In 2006, a special edition of the IUHPE journal Promotion & Education was published with support ped_sh from CDC. The issue presents a global portrait of the present state and future challenges for school health promotion. This publication is acknowledged as a key document in the international development of health promotion in schools.

The content is both informative and stimulating in terms of understanding developments to date and in setting priorities for future action in school health promotion. Authored by invited specialists from all continents, it:

describes experiences and presents reports and case studies from across the World;
identifies major opportunities to improve health promotion in schools in all countries;
demonstrates that promoting health in schools is associated with improved educational achievements as well as measurable improvements in important health indicators;

makes the case for improving the health of staff as well as students.

Many of the commissioned papers make the case that there is an emerging body of global evidence which demonstrates the effectiveness of a health promotion approach in schools and gives clear directions for effective ways of working.

While all of the papers in the special edition are highly relevant today, it is important to acknowledge changes since its publication. Namely in Europe, the European Network of Health Promoting Schools is now Schools for Health in Europe (SHE), coordinated by Goof Buijs in The Netherlands. However the papers by David Rivett formerly of the WHO Office in Ukraine and the description of the European Network of Health Promoting Schools (ENHPS) by Vivian Barnekow of WHO are still important as an analysis of the development of the ENHPS over the last fifteen years.

In addition to a wide range of papers from across the world the edition contains Case Studies which provide shorter practical examples of health promoting schools in action, and they demonstrate the adaptability of the model to the needs of different countries. There are case studies from countries as diverse as Australia, Kosovo, China, Brazil and Uruguay, Kenya and India.

Achieving Health Promoting Schools: Guidelines for Promoting Health in Schools

This document is the second version of the previous 'Protocols and Guidelines for Health Promoting Schools'. The document was reviewed at different international and national-level events between 2005-2008 in order to adjust the language to the global context and to ensure the essential elements are synthesised for policy makers to understand and apply.

The document provides the blueprint for improving the evidence base to promote health in schools, including:

the principles of health promotion in schools; and
support to plan and implement school health promotion.

Fundamental to this effort has been revisiting the five areas outlined in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion as they apply to school health promotion: building healthy public policy, creating supportive environments, strengthening community action, developing personal skills and reorienting health services.

The document has been produced by analysing research and evaluation evidence. Those factors which contribute significantly to the design, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of HPS, have been summarised. These evidence-based Guidelines are intended to assist governments, schools, NGOs, and other interested groups and individuals to be more effective and strategic in their efforts to enhance school health programmes.

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The document is available in
ARABIC, CHINESE, ENGLISH, FRENCH, PORTUGUESE, RUSSIAN and SPANISH

Promoting health in schools: from evidence to action

To complement the recommendations to establish and sustain health promotion in schools set out in the 'Guidelines to Promote Health in Schools', the document 'Promoting health in schools: from evidence to action' is an advocacy document for the health and education sectors to undertake school health promotion activities based on the evidence of effectiveness.

The document provides succinct evidence-based arguments to support the need for school health promotion and advocates for a whole school (Health Promoting Schools) approach to strategically plan and implement school health initiatives.

The content includes brief summaries of the latest evidence of effectiveness in building the health knowledge, behaviours and competencies in young people to prevent non-communicable diseases. It is intended to address policy and decision-makers and education officials in a manner that is understood and applicable to both sectors.

hps_cov

The document is available in ENGLISH
and will soon be available in FRENCH and SPANISH.

Collaboration with the International School Health Network

The International School Health Network (ISHN) has emerged as a means to communicate information and encourage the use of comprehensive approaches to school-based health promotion/health promoting schools.

In cooperation with the IUHPE and other organisations, the ISHN organises a series of webinars on different aspects of school health indicators. The webinars have been designed to be relevant to government officials, practitioners and researchers, who are concerned with school health promotion at the international, national and state/provincial level and will present policy and data collection options for monitoring the health status/behaviours of children/youth, their health literacy, knowledge and skills, and the status/capacity of relevant school health programmes and policies.

To access webinar background information and view the digital recordings, follow the links below. To participate in upcoming webinars, contact Doug McCall, ISHN Coordinator.

Webinars Series I: School Health Monitoring and Reporting

National Monitoring & Reporting Systems:

Case Study: United States

Presenter: Dr Laura Kann, Chief, Surveillance and Evaluation Research Branch, Division of Adolescent and School Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Case study: Hong-Kong

Presenter: Dr Albert Lee, Director of Centre for Health Education and Health Promotion, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Case study: Canada

Presenters:
-Dr Fred Renihan, Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University
-Douglas McCall, Executive Director, Canadian Association for School Health

Towards Monitoring Results in Health Education: Concepts, Measures and Work in Progress

Presenters:
-Koji Miayamoto, Analyst, Centre on Education Research & Innovation, OECD
-Katherine Wilbur, National Health Education Manager, Alliance for a Healthier Generation
-Christine Beyer, Health Education Consultant, Department of Education, South Carolina
-Nancy Hudson, Coordinator, Health Education Assessment Project, Council of Chief State School Officer

Monitoring and Reporting on School Health Programs in Low Income Countries: Overview and the Use of the Global Student Health Survey

Presenters:
Mohini Venkatesh, Programme Manager, Partnership for Child Development, United Kingdom
Marina Miguel-Baquilod, Programme Officer, Research & Surveillance, WHO, Philippines

The Health Behaviours of School-Age Children: Uses of Health and School Connectedness Data in European Countries

Presenter: Candace Currie, Professor of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Edinburgh. International Coordinator of the HBSC Survey

A series of documents to further disseminate knowledge and experiences: School Health Monitoring and Reporting

In an effort to further disseminate knowledge and experiences around school health (SH) Monitoring & Reporting, the ISHN, with the support of IUHPE through a Cooperative Agreement it has with the CDC, and in collaboration with a number of experts and practitioners, is developing a series of summary documents:

A Glossary term: A few paragraphs defining SH Monitoring & Reporting Systems,
An Encyclopedia Entry: A two page summary explaining the concept and briefly summarising what is known about the topic,
A Handbook Section: A 15-20 page document (plus additional pages on case studies) summarising the evidence, discussing implementation and providing descriptions and links to good examples. Some of the case studies include digitally recorded webinars and slide presentations which visitors and members can access from within the pages of the summary.
A Bibliography of Research/Reports/Resources: Providing lists of web-linked research references, reports and resources such as planning tools, education or training materials and more.

These documents are available at http://www.schoolhealthindicators.org/!

These documents are part of an ongoing knowledge exchange program that will be expanded to a wide variety of topics.