Health Promoting Schools In Action: A Guide for Schools

Citation

Weare, K. (2001), "Health Promoting Schools In Action: A Guide for Schools", Health Education, Vol. 101 No. 3, pp. 139-141. https://doi.org/10.1108/he.2001.101.3.139.2

The Health Promoting School (HPS) idea is starting to take off across the world, and nowhere has it been embraced more enthusiastically than in Australia, where a great deal of research and development has taken place. Across the world, the idea of the HPS has been shown to work most effectively where it has received high level support from a range of key agencies, working together in collaboration, and such a strong degree of public acceptance and overt official cooperation has very much been behind the success of the approach “down under”. In the state of Victoria, a collaborative project between the state agency “VicHealth”, Deakin University, and the Department of Employment, Education and Trade has managed to establish an interactive network of HPSs, to strengthen the capacity of schools to be healthy settings for living, learning and working. In support of this network, Deakin University has produced a range of excellent practical materials for use in schools, and this guidebook is one of their most recent publications. Although clearly intended for immediate use in the local situation, this book has far wider applicability in other parts of the world. It provides just the kind of straightforward and positive advice that those who are starting to develop health promoting approaches, at school, district, regional or country level, need: it will also give food for thought for those who are some way along the road of developing the HPS approach. It provides practical guidance for schools wanting to become a HPS, with case studies, check‐lists and other relevant information to help schools address the issues involved. The book is laid out in a generous style that is colourful, spacious and easy on the eye, and written in an informal and user‐friendly style. Its 78 pages are divided into clear sections, which cover key issues such as “understanding the concept” “implementing the framework”, “auditing progress” and “resources”. It is itself a valuable resource that will be of considerable interest, both to novices and those more experienced in the HPS idea.