Health promotion in the school context: a scientific mapping of the literature
Abstract
Purpose
This study presents an overview of research literature on health promotion in schools, utilizing metadata extracted from 4,328 publications indexed in the Scopus database over the past 35 years.
Design/methodology/approach
A bibliometric approach was used to analyze the development and current state of using publication and citation data. A structured keyword search was conducted in the Scopus database to retrieve relevant publications in the field. Frequency counts, rank-ordered tables and time series charts were used to illustrate the dynamic growth of publication and citation data, the core journals, the leading countries and the most frequently used keywords in research on health promotion in school contexts. A series of social network analyses was conducted to explore and visualize the social, intellectual and conceptual structure of the field.
Findings
Findings demonstrate that health promotion in the school context is a growing research field that has gained significant momentum in recent years. The research in this field is widely distributed internationally, but the research output is dominated by the US and other English-speaking countries. The study reveals a trend toward increased collaboration among research groups. The level of international collaboration varies. The research field is highly interdisciplinary, and the main research themes addressed in the literature include mental health, well-being and quality of life; health behaviors; oral health education; sexual and reproductive education and general health promotion and health education in schools.
Originality/value
This is the first study to map the development of a research field with growing recognition. It provides a comprehensive overview of the emerging field of health promotion in the school context and its progress over time, contributing to the organization of the research domain. The study demonstrates the need for a new framework for health promotion research that supports the sustainability of health promotion research in schools.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge and thank the UNESCO Chair and WHO Collaborating Center for Global Health and Education. Through their support, the authors of this study were able to unite diverse perspectives, fostering an environment of shared knowledge that has greatly contributed to the depth and scope of our research.
Citation
Hernández-Torrano, D., Bessems, K., Buijs, G., Lassalle, C., Datema, W. and Jourdan, D. (2024), "Health promotion in the school context: a scientific mapping of the literature", Health Education, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-09-2023-0099
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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