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1 – 10 of over 1000The aim of this paper is to report the process, findings and implications of a three‐year evaluation of integrated health centres (IHCs) established in three secondary schools in…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to report the process, findings and implications of a three‐year evaluation of integrated health centres (IHCs) established in three secondary schools in Cornwall by the School‐Based Integrated Health Centres (SBIHC) partnership.
Design/methodology/approach
When the partners had completed the capital works, an evaluation strategy was designed for 2009‐2012 to identify the extent to which each of the IHCs was meeting the aims set for the IHCs, and each IHC and school was contributing to the aims of the SBIHC project. Formative and summative evaluation used annual case studies to apply data progressively regarding: the use, users and operations of each IHC; students’ perceptions of the user‐friendliness of the IHCs; indicators of the general health and well‐being of students and their sexual and mental health; students’ exposure to crime, substance abuse and poverty; and students’ academic achievement, attendances and exclusions. This process culminated in this paper which reports and discusses findings, suggests implications for practice, theory and research and proposes future directions for the partnership.
Findings
All three schools engaged students closely in the design and decoration of their IHCs. Student ownership was extended into the selection of Coordinators and into centre management and governance. Budehaven Community School appointed a National Health Service (NHS)‐trained Coordinator for their IHC, The Haven, a mental health worker funded for one year by the NHS. After 2009‐2010, his responsibilities were shared by the NHS‐trained Receptionist and the Manager, an Assistant Headteacher. During Year 3, Budehaven added a “co‐location” building, Kevren. About 37 professionals are now located in or visit The Haven and Kevren. Student footfall doubled to about 4,000 in the second year and increased by another 25 per cent in the third year. The wide range of general, mental and sexual health services were highly valued by the students. The Crayon, the IHC in Hayle Community School, achieved a similar footfall over three years. It started with a Receptionist and the Pupil Welfare Officer. The Manager, a Deputy Headteacher, and the Headteacher moving most student support services into the IHC at the end of Year 1. From then on the Crayon had three full‐time professionals. By the end of Year 3, the Crayon had reached the limits of its facilities. A solely positive association was found between IHC usage and measured improvements to mental health and academic progress. The IHC in Penair School, Bywva, developed a wide range of general, sexual and mental health services, attracted a similarly strong footfall, and also reached capacity in Year 3. Penair refined their IHC's line management by an Assistant Headteacher and coordination by a Lead.
Originality/value
This paper offers a new conceptual model of the SBIHC model of health care centred on the reciprocity and integrity of relationships between students and professionals.
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Reynold Macpherson and Barbara Vann
The purpose of this paper evaluates the capacity of the Cornwall Foundation Trust (CFT) of the National Health Service (NHS) to implement the UK Government’s children and young…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper evaluates the capacity of the Cornwall Foundation Trust (CFT) of the National Health Service (NHS) to implement the UK Government’s children and young people’s mental health strategy through its school-based integrated health centre (SBIHC) delivery model.
Design/methodology/approach
This evaluation uses six case studies of SBIHCs to indicate the general effectiveness of this delivery model and its capacity to implement the three core proposals of the Government’s strategy. The core proposals are: to encourage all schools and colleges to identify and train a designated senior lead (DSL) for mental health; to fund new mental health support teams (MHSTs); and to develop strategies to meet the proposed four-week waiting time for access to specialist NHS mental health services.
Findings
This evaluation found that the Duchy Health Charity and CFT piloted a new delivery model in three SBIHCs from 2009 that successfully integrated health and educational services to children and adolescents, including general health and well-being and sexual and mental health and, more recently, integrated welfare services.
Research limitations/implications
The main research implication is that longitudinal case studies of organisational innovations can reveal the subtleties of educational management in context and potentially inform advances elsewhere consistent with national policy developments.
Practical implications
The main practical implication is that the SBIHCs at Penair Community School, Budehaven Community School, Hayle Community School, Looe Community Academy, Treviglas Community Academy and Wadebridge Community School should each be recognised as a “trailblazer site” in the implementation of the Government’s children and young people’s mental health strategy.
Social implications
Mandatory secondary education is the last opportunity that the UK society has to embed knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for the life-long self-management of health. The CFT’s SBIHC model trialled since 2009 has successfully integrated health and educational services to children and adolescents, including general health and well-being and sexual and mental health and, more recently, integrated welfare services.
Originality/value
This evaluation research is unique. It reports that the CFT’s SBIHC model is the first and only organisational innovation at a system level in the UK that has successfully integrated health and education services to children and adolescents.
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Felicity Thomas and Peter Aggleton
– The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the evidence base to support whole school approaches.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the evidence base to support whole school approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conduct a review of published evaluations and evidence syntheses across six areas in the international health-promoting schools literature.
Findings
Although whole school approaches are often advocated in literature and policy on health-promoting schools, the evidence base for their effectiveness is partial and is often health topic specific. This paper reviews the evidence base across six different health-related areas, namely: sexual health; bullying; alcohol and drug use; mental health; school connectedness; and access to services. It identifies commonalities in learning, enabling a confluence of evidence on the factors central to the provision of effective health education and support within schools. Whilst findings endorse a whole school approach, they also suggest that some of the more subtle evidence-based principles on which such approaches are underpinned are not generally explicitly reflected in practice.
Originality/value
The paper offers the first cross-topic synthesis of findings on health education effects and effectiveness in six health-related areas, to identify commonalities in learning. Findings contribute to the evidence base for the use of a whole school approach when undertaking health education in schools.
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Valentina Baltag and Miriam Levi
The purpose of this article is to produce a taxonomy of organizational models of school health services (SHS) in the WHO European Region, and to reflect upon the potential of each…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to produce a taxonomy of organizational models of school health services (SHS) in the WHO European Region, and to reflect upon the potential of each model to be effective, equitable, responsive and efficient.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used data from the WHO survey to identify organizational models. To produce a taxonomy of organizational models, three features of SHS organization were analyzed – the presence of health personnel specifically dedicated to school health services provision (school nurse and/or school doctor); the statutory involvement of other health professions in SHS provision; and the proximity of service provision to pupils (school-based or not school-based).
Findings
There are five organizational models of school health services in the Member States of the WHO European Region: dedicated school-based, dedicated community-based, integrated with primary care, mixed school-based, and mixed community-based. Preliminary reflections show that school based models are more likely to produce better outcomes in terms of effectiveness, equity, responsiveness, and efficiency.
Research limitations/implications
The WHO European Region has 53 Member States; the data are therefore incomplete and conclusions are limited to the 37 respondent countries.
Practical implications
Knowledge on performance of various models of service provision may inform decision-makers in the process of reforms.
Originality/value
This is the first attempt to produce a taxonomy of organizational models of school health services based on data from 37 countries, and to investigate the potential of each model to achieve desirable health system objectives.
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Bethany Butzer, Denise Bury, Shirley Telles and Sat Bir S. Khalsa
The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesise research evidence and propose a theoretical model suggesting that school-based yoga programs may be an effective way to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesise research evidence and propose a theoretical model suggesting that school-based yoga programs may be an effective way to promote social-emotional learning (SEL) and positive student outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a literature review focusing on: the current state of research on school-based yoga interventions; a preliminary theoretical model outlining the potential mechanisms and effects of school-based yoga; similarities, differences and possibilities for integrating school-based SEL, yoga and meditation; practical implications for researching and implementing yoga in schools.
Findings
Research suggests that providing yoga within the school curriculum may be an effective way to help students develop self-regulation, mind-body awareness and physical fitness, which may, in turn, foster additional SEL competencies and positive student outcomes such as improved behaviours, mental state, health and performance.
Research limitations/implications
Given that research on school-based yoga is in its infancy, most existing studies are preliminary and are of low to moderate methodological quality. It will be important for future research to employ more rigorous study designs.
Practical implications
It is possible, pending additional high-quality research, that yoga could become a well-accepted component of school curricula. It will be particularly important for future research to examine possibilities around integrating school-based yoga and meditation with SEL programs at the individual, group and school-wide levels.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to describe a theoretical model specifically focused on school-based yoga interventions, as well as a discussion of the similarities and differences between school-based yoga, SEL and meditation.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evidence surrounding the design and delivery of adolescent-specific health services for young people aged 14-25. This…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evidence surrounding the design and delivery of adolescent-specific health services for young people aged 14-25. This aims to make recommendations for National Health Service (NHS) senior management teams on the available literature relating to service design for children’s and young people's services within the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a mini-review carried out in Spring 2013 using EMBASE, BNI, PSYCHinfo, MEDLINE and Google Scholar to systematically search available published and unpublished research papers. Systematic reviews, meta-analyses and evaluations of service models were included within this review. Adapted “GRADE” criteria were used to appraise the evidence.
Findings
Of 70 papers found, 22 met the inclusion criteria. There were five main service designs found within the literature: hospital-based; school-linked or school-based; community based; combination and integrative; and other methods which did not fit into the four other categories.
Research limitations/implications
This review is limited to the literature available within the inclusion criteria and search strategy used. It intends to inform management decisions in combination with other parameters and available evidence.
Originality/value
There is range of research and evidence syntheses relating to adolescent services, but none of these have been conducted with a focus on the UK NHS and the information needs of managers re-designing services in the current climate within England.
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Jeremy Segrott, Jo Holliday, Simon Murphy, Sarah Macdonald, Joan Roberts, Laurence Moore and Ceri Phillips
The teaching of cooking is an important aspect of school-based efforts to promote healthy diets among children, and is frequently done by external agencies. Within a limited…
Abstract
Purpose
The teaching of cooking is an important aspect of school-based efforts to promote healthy diets among children, and is frequently done by external agencies. Within a limited evidence base relating to cooking interventions in schools, there are important questions about how interventions are integrated within school settings. The purpose of this paper is to examine how a mobile classroom (Cooking Bus) sought to strengthen connections between schools and cooking, and drawing on the concept of the sociotechnical network, theorise the interactions between the Bus and school contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
Methods comprised a postal questionnaire to 76 schools which had received a Bus visit, and case studies of the Bus’ work in five schools, including a range of school sizes and urban/rural locations. Case studies comprised observation of Cooking Bus sessions, and interviews with school staff.
Findings
The Cooking Bus forged connections with schools through aligning intervention and schools’ goals, focussing on pupils’ cooking skills, training teachers and contributing to schools’ existing cooking-related activities. The Bus expanded its sociotechnical network through post-visit integration of cooking activities within schools, particularly teachers’ use of intervention cooking kits.
Research limitations/implications
The paper highlights the need for research on the long-term impacts of school cooking interventions, and better understanding of the interaction between interventions and school contexts.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the limited evidence base on school-based cooking interventions by theorising how cooking interventions relate to school settings, and how they may achieve integration.
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Grace Spencer, Philip Hood, Shade Agboola and Catherine Pritchard
Children’s health and life chances are affected by many factors, with parents and schools holding influential roles. Yet relatively little is known about parental engagement in…
Abstract
Purpose
Children’s health and life chances are affected by many factors, with parents and schools holding influential roles. Yet relatively little is known about parental engagement in school-based health education and specifically, from the perspectives of health and education professionals. The purpose of this paper is to examine professionals’ perspectives on parental engagement in school-based health education.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory qualitative study was conducted with ten health, education and local authority professionals from a socio-economically deprived area in England. Semi-structured interviews explored the role of professionals within the school health curricula, roles that parents played in school health, and barriers and enablers to parental engagement in school health education.
Findings
Reported barriers to engagement related to assumptions about parents’ own health behaviours, impacts of funding and inspection regimes, and protected time for health within the school curriculum. Enablers included designated parental support workers based in the school, positive role modelling by other parents, consultation and engagement with parents and a whole school approach to embedding health within the wider curriculum.
Practical implications
Findings from this study suggest the importance of building meaningful partnerships with parents to complement school health education and improve child health outcomes.
Originality/value
This paper addresses an important gap in the research on parental engagement in school-based health education from the perspectives of health and education professionals. Effective partnerships with parents are crucial to the success of school health education.
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Lauryn Young, Maura Mulloy, Sloan Huckabee, Ryan Landoll, Elaine Miller, Marissa Miller and Mark D. Weist
Recently, a national priority has been set to improve mental health services for children and families. It has been identified in epidemiological literature that in the United…
Abstract
Recently, a national priority has been set to improve mental health services for children and families. It has been identified in epidemiological literature that in the United States, an approximate 15% of youth meet diagnostic criteria for emotional or behavioral problems. Furthermore, less than one in every five children that present with such needs receive mental health services. Individual, family, and system barriers such as transportation, competing demands, and long waiting lists have negatively impacted access to mental health services. Therefore, the school system has become the “de facto” mental health system for children and adolescents, in part because of the significant time students spend at school. However, meeting the needs of students with behavioral or emotional problems within the school system poses its own challenges. Schools have reported being limited in their ability to deliver basic mental wellness to students due to the lack of available resources. Specifically, there is a shortage of school-employed mental health personnel and the ratio of student to mental health professional is two to three times larger than recommended. Expanded school mental health programs are partnered systems that utilize existing services and collaborate with community mental health (CMH) professionals at each level of the three-tiered system. This partnership enables CMH staff gain access to youth with emotional and behavioral problems, resulting in increased prevention and intervention services for students. Additionally, a coordinated effort such as student-transition services has an integral role of facilitating the process from the school system to postsecondary employment, training, and or additional education.