Health promoting schools and COVID-19: preparing for the future

We face an unprecedented period of history during which COVID-19 is clustered with other global conditions, such as obesity, undernutrition, an infodemic, and climate change. This syndemic (synergy of epidemics) calls for the development of children’s and youth’s health literacy and socioemotional skills, support for behavioural hygiene (e.g. washing hands, wearing masks), and adults’ responsibility and caring. Moreover, it calls for creating conditions for healthy living and learning for all and paying extra attention to inequalities that have increased during the pandemic. Today, more than ever, there is an essential demand for schools to create environments that maintain and promote health for all. Within this commentary, we argue that whole-school approaches, such as the health promoting school, are essential to fight against the pandemic and to prepare schools for future challenges.

Roles and responsibilities in substance use prevention in the school setting: views among Finnish school personnel representatives

OBJECTIVE

This study explores the views of Finnish school personnel representatives regarding substance use prevention responsibilities.

DESIGN

Twenty-two focus groups were conducted within the scope of a regional intervention study in 2019. Qualitative content analysis was performed.

SETTING

Focus group interviews were conducted in the school setting.

SUBJECTS

Focus group participants included representatives for educational personnel and student welfare personnel working in basic education, general upper secondary education or vocational education settings.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Views and experiences concerning roles and responsibilities in primary prevention of substance use.

RESULTS

Findings highlight the need for intersectoral efforts and intra-school collaboration in primary prevention efforts, but also in mental health promotion - on which the informants placed great emphasis. The health promotion leadership in schools, structural guidelines and the school curriculum could both challenge and support school personnel in their roles. An increased need to focus on the early years of life and related responsibilities of the homes was emphasized, along with the need to place more emphasis on health education in the first years of basic education, and responsibilities related to early risk identification.

CONCLUSION

The findings highlight a need to develop structures and role clarity among school personnel, which can advance further development of intra-school and inter-sectoral collaboration in primary substance use prevention and mental health promotion. In the Finnish context, the successful implementation of relevant legislation, which some school representatives view as unclear or contravening, could be further supported.Key pointsViews regarding responsibilities in primary substance use prevention in the school setting have been less researched in the Nordic countries:The importance of inter-sectoral and intra-school collaboration is emphasized among school personnel representatives, including the role of the homesPrimary prevention and mental health promotion responsibilities are viewed as less clear than secondary and tertiary prevention responsibilitiesStructural guidelines concerning e.g. confidentiality aspects and curriculum features can both support and challenge school representatives in their roles.

Policy Recommendations for Preventing Problematic Internet Use in Schools: A Qualitative Study of Parental Perspectives

Parenting in the digital age has been characterized as one of the most challenging tasks of the modern era. Parents are ambivalent about their mediating role. However, problematic aspects of adolescent online use have not been adequately addressed in education. The present study investigated parental perceptions of intervention needs within schools to prevent excessive/problematic use, enhance parent-child communication, and reduce family conflicts. Nine interviews with parents of adolescents residing in the UK were carried out and analyzed utilizing thematic analysis. Three main themes emerged as parental proposals: (i) schools as digital education providers and prevention hubs, (ii) provision of mental health literacy to raise awareness, resolve ambiguity regarding impacts and mitigate excessive use and impacts, and (iii) psychoeducation and upskilling. The third theme related to impacts from time spent on screens (time displacement), content-related impacts, and context-related impacts. The present study offers recommendations for media literacy during adolescence beyond e-safety (i.e., addressing interpersonal communication problems, privacy vs. disclosure issues), based on parents' views, and provides new insights for media and emotional health literacy collaboration efforts. Future work should investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of such interventions to support the emotional health of young people and prevent problematic internet use escalation.

Health education for deaf Romanian children: parents’ opinions

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.

Effects of an Adolescent Obesity Management Educational Program on Middle and High School Teachers in South Korea

PURPOSE

This study aimed to examine the effects of an adolescent obesity management educational program (AOMEP) on middle and high school teachers.

METHODS

A quasiexperimental, pretest post-test design was performed to test primary variables, including adolescent obesity management knowledge, attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intention based on the concepts presented in the Theory of Planned Behavior.

RESULTS

A total of 61 teachers participated. The experimental group (n = 30) received 15 hours of AOMEP, whereas the control group (n = 31) did not receive any. The experimental group showed significant improvement in knowledge (t = 2.53, d = .65, p = .014) and attitude (t = 2.77, d = .71, p = .008) toward adolescent obesity management compared to the control group. However, there were no significant differences in perceived behavioral control or behavioral intention between the groups.

CONCLUSIONS

AOMEP may be utilized as an effective obesity management program for adolescent students in schools.

Policy windows for school-based health education about nutrition in Ecuador

The aim of this study is to identify opportunities in policy framing for critical health education (CHE) about food and nutrition in Ecuadorian schools. The research engages in a dialogue between the perspectives of critical nutrition and political ecology, as it seeks to clarify and develop a critical perspective on health promotion and health education. Critical nutrition studies and political ecology highlight the need to consider and also act upon the broader connections of, and influences on, food and nutrition. In a CHE approach, students learn to address the wider determinants of health through critical, democratic and collaborative processes, anchored in and supported by the local community. Based on a textual analysis of health, food and education policy documents, the study finds that concrete norms endorse a biomedical stance. Consequently, focus remains on prescribing individual behavior, and schools are regarded as intervention settings, rather than a site for generating change as would be the case of health promotion using a CHE viewpoint. However, the study finds the possibility for developing a CHE perspective in the overarching rationale of 'good living', which reaffirms a holistic understanding of health, the need for critical and plural participation and the importance of the community. It is possible that the notion of community participation could facilitate introducing a CHE approach in Ecuadorian schools.

Community participation in rural Ecuador’s school feeding programme

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate concerning community participation in school-based health education and health promotion, with regard to food and nutrition.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on empirical data generated over the course of one year of fieldwork in three rural communities and schools in Ecuador, the study examines community participation related to the implementation of the school feeding programme (SFP) in rural schools in Ecuador. The conceptual framework for the study is shaped by the concepts of student and community participation within the health promoting school (HPS) paradigm.

Findings

The findings help identify and portray different forms of community participation, ranging from a total absence of meaningful participation, though very limited, to consequential participation determined as community influence on the SFP practices to meet the community needs, priorities and systems of meanings.

Research limitations/implications

The study shows that the meaningful participation of the parents and community members in small rural schools in a low- to middle-income country such as Ecuador can be linked to an empowered stance towards the SFP so that it is better tuned to local conditions, priorities and systems of meaning. School leadership, geographical characteristics and internal community organization seem to influence how participation is valued and enacted. Challenges remain in the interpretations of community participation, including counter- and non-participation of members.

Originality/value

The study contributes to an understanding of policy implementation and the implications of a HPS approach to health education and health promotion in small rural schools.

An evaluation of factors which can affect the implementation of a health promotion programme under the Schools for Health in Europe framework

The Health Promoting Schools concept helps schools to promote health in a sustainable and long-term fashion. However, developing the capacity to promote health in this way can be challenging when a busy teaching curriculum must be fulfilled. This study aimed to identify factors which affect the acceptability of health promotion programmes to the everyday school environment. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were audio-taped with primary school teachers in one Irish county and transcribed verbatim. The resulting transcripts were analysed using content analysis. Thirty-one teachers were interviewed. The factors which may adversely affect the acceptability of health promotion programmes include the: attitude of teachers towards an additional extra-curricular workload; lack of confidence amongst teachers to lead health promotion; and different organisational cultures between schools. When health promotion programmes under the Health Promoting Schools concept are being implemented, it's important to consider: the readiness for change amongst teachers; the resources available to increase staff capacity to promote health; and the ability of a programme to adapt to the different organisational cultures between schools.

Effects of Healthy Life Practice Education on Reported Health Behaviors Among Fourth-Grade Elementary School Students in South Korea

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of healthy life practice (HLP) education on reported health behaviors, including health promotion, disease prevention, and safety among fourth-grade elementary school students. A quasi-experimental, pretest/posttest design was used. The 101 recruited participants from two schools were assigned to the intervention group (n = 51) that received 10 health education sessions and the control group (n = 50) that did not receive the intervention. Significant differences in health behaviors were observed between the two groups (t = 2.563, p = .012), specifically for disease prevention (t = 2.178, p = .032) and safety (t = 2.711, p = .008). However, no significant between-group differences were observed in health promotion (t = .270, p = .788). Educational interventions aimed at changing HLP-related health behaviors may be effective for elementary schoolchildren.