Chantal Vandoorne

School health promotion : organization of services and roles of health professionals in seven European countries

BACKGROUND This comparative study is intended to provide a better understanding of how health promotion services are organized in school settings in Europe and to show how health professionals involved outside or within the school setting help to improve young peoples health. METHODS This study was based on an analysis of school health policies and the organization of school health services, where these existed, as well as on interviews with health and education professionals. The countries concerned were Belgium (French-speaking community), Denmark, France, Spain (Catalonia), Switzerland (Jura), Poland and Portugal. RESULTS Although the provision of health services for children and adolescents varied considerably, the health services available were very similar in each of the countries. The emphasis put on particular aspects of these services varied depending on the political and institutional culture in each country. Three different types of school health service provision were identified: community-based, school-based or health needs-focused. CONCLUSION All countries had health education and health promotion services but the provision of these services varied considerably from country to country. They were provided either by a specific category of professionals (health personnel or teachers) or considered to be the responsibility of the educational community as a whole.

Enfants négligés : ils naissent, ils vivent, mais surtout ils survivent

Child neglect leads to numerous and serious consequences. The physical and neurophysiological development can be altered by the lack of stimulation or via a chronic stress which increases the production of cortisol. Gradually, psychomotor and cognitive deficits can appear. The emotions can be deeply touched and cause dysfunctional social relationship, ranging from withdrawal to aggressiveness. Primary care health practitioners have a role to play in the screening of risk situations and long term follow-up of the families. The interventions should ideally begin early, be participatory and based on an enhancement of the parent-child relationship.

A Simple Risk Assessment Tool for use in Ergonomics Participatory Processes

Following a request by the Belgian Ministry of Labor, a practical guide has been developed for the prevention and evaluation of risks related to manual handling. This 93 pages guide is intended not only for prevention experts but also for the workers and their supervisors. A separated part of the guide, the ***<<FIFARIM>>, has been designed for use at the workplace in order to assist those people in identifying the risk factors of their own work tasks and selecting prevention measures. The actual usability of this tool has been analyzed in a participatory ergonomics intervention in an engineering plant

From Health Needs Assessment to Ergonomic Actions. How to Initiate a Participatory Change Process

A health promotion process has been launched within a large Belgian university hospital. This presentation outlines the organisational background of the whole process and the rationale underlining the choice of the methodologies used to survey the health needs of the health care workers and to define priorities. In order to elicit effective participation from the staff members, several questions have to be addressed in the transitional phase between problem situations assessment and ergonomic intervention: which channels use to disseminate the information about the survey results, what role for the top management of the hospital and for the ergonomic experts, which support methodologies should be provided for initiating the change process?