Carine Simar

Factors influencing the contribution of staff to health education in schools

Understanding the contribution of the whole-school staff to health education (HE) is an important goal in HE research. This study aimed to identify the views of staff (principals; teachers; school nurses and doctors; counsellors and administrative, maintenance, canteen and cleaning staff) regarding the nature of their contribution to HE. The research is based on 207 semi-structured interviews of staff in a sample of five French middle schools (grade 6-9). Content analysis was performed using Bardins method. The results showed that staff members have different views of their role, three main roles were identified: (i) as an educator in everyday life issues (72%); (ii) individual support, listening (14%) and (iii) taking part in collective projects and facilitation (14%). Professional status has a significant influence on the view they have of their contribution to HE. These results show that in order to facilitate consistent implementation of HE, schools need to be supported to build HE policy (need analysis, definition of priorities and partnerships) and also to develop the means by which an inclusive and real sharing of common culture among all staff can happen; this is not limited to teaching staff but includes non-teaching staff also.

Implementation of a health promotion programme: a 10 year retrospective study

Purpose Implementing health promotion programmes in schools is key to improving children’s health and well-being but difficulties in achieving expected results are often reported in the research literature. Discrepancies between expected and achieved outcomes can originate from differences in contexts. Understanding how interactions between contexts and programmes generate variable outcomes is therefore critical. This study explores the outputs of a programme implemented in different school contexts. The focus is to (1) pinpoint outputs (2) understand the involvement of combinations of contextual factors (3) and identify recurrences in these combinations. Study design and methodology This retrospective study covers a period from 2006 to 2016. Data collection includes 2 sets of data in 8 high schools in the Rhone-Alpes Region in France: written documents and interviews with school staff. Realist evaluation is used to attempt to pinpoint outputs and relating contextual factors. Findings Results highlight the limited outputs of the programme. Differences between schools appear to originate from existing school policy prior to participation, existence of a project team, identification of the issue as priority, and staff turn-over. Analysis of contextual factors led to considering the implementation process as enabling health capacity building and enhanced the capacity of settings and communities to promote health. Limitations The data provided remains partial as there was high staff turn-over, reluctance to participate due to failure to implement the project, and schools being over burdened with other requests. Value Downloaded by BIBLIOTHEQUE CLERMONT UNIVERSITE At 00:46 13 February 2017 (PT) 2 Previous research suggests that top-down implementation of a standard programme is not an efficient strategy for all schools to engage in the development of suitable health promotion policies. A potential way forward is to base support for the local development of health promotion in schools on a better understanding of the contexts in which implementation occurs.

School health promotion and teacher professional identity

Purpose – Health and education are inextricably linked. Health promotion sits somewhat uncomfortably within schools, often remaining a marginal aspect of teachers’ work. The purpose of this paper is to examine the compatibility of an HP-initiative with teacher professional identity. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research design was adopted consisting of semi-structured interviews. In total, 49 teachers in two school districts in the Auvergne region in central France were interviewed in depth post having completed three years’ involvement in a health promoting schools initiative called “Learning to Live Better Together” (“Apprendre a Mieux Vivre Ensemble”). Findings – Teachers in the study had a broad conceptualisation of their role in health promotion. In keeping with international trends, there was more success at classroom than at whole school level. While generally teachers can be reluctant to engage with health promotion, the teachers in this study identified having little difficulty in understanding their professional identity as health promoters and identified strong compatibility with the HP-initiative. Practical implications – Teachers generally viewed professional development in health promotion in a positive light when its underlying values were commensurate with their own and when the context was seen as compatible with the school mission. The promotion of health in schools needs to be sensitive to professional identity and be tailored specifically to blend more successfully with current teacher identity and practice. Originality/value – The promotion of health in schools needs to be sensitive to professional identity and be tailored specifically to blend more successfully with current teacher identity and practice.

Health education in schools: factors influencing parents’ views of the home–school relationship in France

Abstract Ensuring that schools, families and communities work in partnership to reduce the gradient in health, well-being, and resilience of children and young people is considered a priority among public health objectives. This study aimed to explore the factors having an influence on the home–school relationship in general and in the field of health. Emphasis was put on socio-economic factors. A questionnaire was administered to parents of fourth- and fifth-graders attending 37 primary schools in France. Demographic and social characteristics, and views on the home–school relationship and on health education were analysed. The majority of parents (67%) were satisfied with their relationships with their child’s school, but 22% of parents indicated the reverse. Lower socio-economic status (SES) parents were more satisfied with the home–school relationship than higher SES parents were. Parents acknowledged that health education belongs at school, but they did not see it as important a school subject as mathematics or language. They were also critical about school staff members’ health education competence (5.07 ± 2.38 on 10). Parents with lower SES had a closer relationship with their child’s school than parents with higher SES did. This suggests that schools can play a key role in the reduction of health inequities. Nevertheless, enhancing a school’s potential to become a healthy setting appears to be challenging since parents considered both the status of health education and school staffs’ competence in teaching health issues low.