Implementation practices in school health promotion

Findings from an Austrian multiple-case study

Datos Bibliográficos

ID22944485
AutoresMichaela Adamowitsch (autor de correspondencia), Lisa Gugglberger (0000-0001-7190-6086), Wolfgang Dür (0000-0002-0234-7425)
Año2017
Volumen32
Número2
Páginas218-230
Fecha de publicación2017-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHealth Promotion International (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0957-4824 • E-ISSN: 1460-2245
EditorialOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/heapro/dau018
PMID24682544
OpenAlexW2168538269
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas23
Referencias citadas14

Since the 1980s, schools have been recognized as an ideal setting to promote students' and teachers' health. Three decades after the development of the Health Promoting Schools (HPS) approach, however, there is still only limited knowledge about the implementation of health promotion (HP) activities in this setting. Some studies indicate that schools change original concepts significantly when adapting them to local context in the course of implementation. In this paper, we pursue the question how HP is practiced in schools that have agreed to implement HPS concepts from regional service providers (SPs), using data from a multiple-case study conducted in an Austrian province. Furthermore, we explored the HP activities chosen for implementation and the decision-making leading to their implementation. We draw on 22 interviews with members of the school community and provincial HP SPs, 9 group discussions, and 10 observations we have carried out within three schools between November 2010 and January 2012, supplemented by a variety of documents. We have identified 40 different HP activities, of which most targeted students, while mostly focusing on physical activity and/or psychosocial health. Planning, coordination and cooperation at the school level were minimal. Decisions for or against activities were seldom taken together, but taken individually due to personal knowledge, interests and experiences, perceived needs and problems, already existing activities and external influences. The findings suggest that schools rather remain with a traditional topic-based approach instead of realizing an integrated whole-school approach and indicate a need for more support especially during the early phases of implementation.

Context (archaeology) · Geography · Health promotion · Medical education · Political science · Promotion (chess) · Psychosocial · Public health · Public relations · School health · Variety (cybernetics) · Community Health and Development · Computer Science · Health, psychology, and well-being · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · School Health and Nursing Education