Implementation support structure for the Dutch Health Promoting School program
A multiple case study
Bibliographic Data
Support structures are available to schools worldwide for the implementation of Health Promoting School (HPS) programs. To get more insight in these structures, this multiple case study aimed to map variation in levels of support within eight Public Health Service (PHS) regions in the Netherlands and associations with contextual factors. Designed together with a Community of Practice, the study included two rounds of semistructured group interviews (N = 1–4 employees; ±3.5 hours per case) and document analysis. Data were collected on eight indicators of the level of support (e.g. intensity and reach) and 24 contextual factors relating to Healthy School Advisers, PHSs, stakeholder collaboration, and the wider context. Scores were assigned for all indicators and factors per region, and patterns were examined. Results showed large variation in the level of support across cases, mainly in intensity of provided support, integration in the PHS, and reach in terms of percentage of certified HPS schools. Some aspects such as advisers’ context sensitivity scored low in all cases. Key contextual factors were related to the PHS: its policy, internal support, capacity, and (structural) budget. Other important factors related to collaboration with regional stakeholders: coordination, division of responsibilities, and communication structure. Structural budget and strategic stakeholder coordination could be improved in all cases. In conclusion, there is much room for improvement toward sufficient and higher quality HPS implementation support for all schools in the Netherlands. To strengthen support, it is important to establish commitment of the PHS organization, strong coordination between stakeholders, and strong national positioning of the HPS program. These conclusions might also apply to other countries.
Certification · Context (archaeology) · Data collection · Public health · Quality (philosophy) · Service (business) · Stakeholder · Stakeholder engagement · Health, psychology, and well-being · Public Health Policies and Education · School Health and Nursing Education
Communities of Practice
The WHO Health Promoting School framework for improving the health and well-being of students and their academic achievement
The challenge of complexity in health care
The need for a complex systems model of evidence for public health
Health Promoting Schools—a complex approach and a major means to health improvement
The operational context of care sport connectors in the Netherlands
Fidelity, adaptation and integration of whole-school health promotion within Dutch schools
Systems thinking and complexity
How divergent conceptions among health and education stakeholders influence the dissemination of healthy schools in Quebec
Supporting schools during the implementation of the health-promoting school approach
Measuring Implementation of Health Promoting School (HPS) Programs
Effectiveness of a systematic approach to promote intersectoral collaboration in comprehensive school health promotion-a multiple-case study using quantitative and qualitative data
Implementation Matters
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |