Journal of School Health最新文献

Background: This study evaluated stakeholders' perceptions regarding the initial implementation process of the health promoting school model proposed by the affordable health initiative (AHI HPS model) in schools of Belo Horizonte/BRA.

Methods: The model has been implemented since 2019, by an implementation committee (IC) with members from university, health, and education sectors. Data were collected from records of the IC meetings (n = 10) and interviews with 5 IC members to evaluate the model's acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, and feasibility. The material was decomposed by content analysis.

Results: Two categories and 7 subcategories emerged, suggesting that stakeholders found the model straightforward and well-suited to schools. Facilitators (teamwork, motivation, commitment, teacher's central role, inclusive decision-making, intersectoral responsibility pact, model alignment with school context) and barriers (family involvement, time constraints for curriculum integration, financial resource, school infrastructure, records difficulties, university unawareness of the school context) to implementation were presented.

Implications for school health policy, practice, and equity: The results highlight the need to involve civil society and decision-makers to make the program feasible.

Conclusion: Participants showed they accept and intend to contribute to implementing the model. They believe in the program's feasibility as long as teacher involvement is prioritized, and identified barriers are overcome.

Background: Limited information about school outcomes among children (especially early childhood) with lifetime history of head injury, including traumatic brain injury (TBI), may inhibit efforts to support their academics and physical and mental health.

Methods: Baseline data (2016-2018) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study were analyzed to describe associations between parent-proxy reported lifetime history of head injury or TBI before age 9 and school outcomes and behavioral challenges among 9- and 10-year-old children.

Results: Having a lifetime history of head injury before age 9 was associated with increased odds of parent-perceived poor school performance (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.14-1.81), a drop in grades (AOR = 1.28, 95%CI = 1.06-1.54), recent receipt of detentions or suspensions (AOR = 1.29, 95%CI = 1.02-1.65), and receipt of special educational services (AOR = 1.23, 95%CI = 1.08-1.41). Of those with a lifetime history of head injury, males displayed poorer school outcomes and greater behavioral challenges than females. Similar associations were observed between lifetime history of TBI before age 9 and worse school outcomes, with males continuing to demonstrate stronger associations.

Conclusions: These findings underscore the importance of screening for history of head injury and TBI and providing training for school professionals to help ensure students with a history of head or traumatic brain injury have appropriate supports in place.

Background: This study explored the cardiac emergency preparedness of school employees in Illinois, as well as their attitudes toward cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) training.

Methods: One thousand two hundred seventy-six school employees completed an online survey regarding their school's cardiac emergency preparedness, as well as their access to CPR/AED training, confidence and willingness to perform CPR/AED, and attitudes toward CPR policies and mandates.

Results: In total, results from 1273 school employees were analyzed. School employees in Illinois are not prepared to respond to a cardiac emergency, but desire training, plans, and drills. Demographic analyses revealed statistically significant differences in cardiac emergency preparedness between individuals of different personal and school characteristics.

Conclusions: School employees in Illinois are not prepared to respond to a cardiac emergency. To increase preparedness for cardiac emergencies at school, schools should implement CPR/AED training for all employees, cardiac emergency response plans, and cardiac emergency response drills.

Implications for school health policy, practice, and equity: Policies should be implemented at the state and local level to support cardiac emergency preparedness in schools, including mandated CPR/AED training for all school employees, cardiac emergency response plans for every building, and required cardiac emergency response drills.

Background: Comprehensive health education in schools can effectively prevent drug use and related outcomes, but successful implementation remains challenging. Contextual determinants, including intervention-setting compatibility, focus on the intervention, available resources, and leadership support, influence implementation success. This study investigates the impact of multilevel contextual determinants on Michigan Model for Health: (MMH) curriculum fidelity.

Methods: High school health teachers across Michigan (N = 171) participated in an MMH implementation survey. We used structural equation modeling to investigate the relative contributions of contextual determinants to implementation fidelity while also permitting the determinant factors to covary.

Results: The models demonstrate a good fit with the data (structural: X² = 51, df: 34, p = 0.03; RMSEA: 0.06, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.08; CFI: 0.98). Results indicate that the context latent factors individually were associated with fidelity. Examined together, we found significant covariance between the latent factors, but only resources predicted fidelity.

Implications for school health policy, practice, and equity: School health policy and practice benefit from sufficient resources to support prevention curriculum implementation. Insufficient resources exacerbate existing barriers in low-resource communities, leading to unequal intervention implementation and widening health disparities.

Conclusions: Our results indicate that while contextual determinants are interrelated, sufficient resources are foundational to successful implementation.

Background: Despite overall declines in risky teen sexual activity, racial and ethnic disparities persist. This study compared abstinence-only and comprehensive teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) programs to explore the effects of the programs on teen sexual activity-related outcomes that may differ by race/ethnicity.

Methods: Program evaluation data were collected from 7th-grade students in comprehensive (N = 3244) and abstinence-only (N = 3172) TPP programs. Differences between outcomes by TPP program were analyzed using chi-square tests and logistic regression for each racial/ethnic group.

Results: Black and Hispanic students were significantly less likely to indicate positive attitudes, intentions, and behaviors at baseline. Only white students significantly improved in both programs from pre- to post-assessment. Native American students in the abstinence-only program were significantly less likely than Native American students in the comprehensive sexuality programming to improve from pre- to post-assessment regarding male sexuality, refusal skills, sex and teen norms, and sexual abstinence.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that youth of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds do not enter TPP programs with similar attitudes, intentions, or behavior regarding appropriate sexual behavior and that the impact of such programs also may vary by race and ethnicity.

Background: Students' sense of school belonging is important for mental health, physical health, and academic performance. However, some students do not feel as though they belong in their schools. This study investigated Greek secondary school students' perspectives on practices that enhanced their sense of belonging during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: An online survey used open-ended questions to explore the views of 226 Greek secondary school students.

Results: Thematic analysis identified four teacher-level practice themes: communication and understanding, respect and inclusion, support to become involved in the school community, and classroom structure. Four school-level practice themes were identified: support and inclusion, psychological support and career guidance, improved school facilities and safety, and activities and opportunities for social connections.

Implications for school health policy, practice, and equity: Teacher communication that fostered belonging included being approachable, understanding, and caring. Students valued inclusion, safety, and equality. Extracurricular activities and workshops strengthened belonging at school. Group work, creative lessons, and at the school-level, opportunities for social connection, were also important for developing a sense of belonging.

Conclusions: By understanding different level factors linked to school belonging, schools and policymakers can better identify effective and appropriate practices that improve student belonging.

Background: Wearable technologies offer new opportunities to address in-school physical inactivity. However, children are often excluded from discussing issues which directly impact them, including the use of wearable technologies in a school setting. Thus, the aim of this study is to understand primary school pupils' experiences and perceptions of using wearable physical activity monitoring technologies within schools.

Methods: Nine semi-structured focus groups were conducted with 41 Year 5 and 6 pupils (19 girls, 22 boys) from 5 primary schools in the South West of England. Focus group transcripts were analyzed using a reflective thematic approach.

Results: Pupils made valuable contributions to discussions around wearable technologies, considering both advantages and disadvantages. Most importantly, when discussing use in schools, pupils were mindful that while they wanted to see their own activity and saw benefit in teachers knowing their activity, they felt comparisons in classes could lead to negative emotions for some pupils.

Conclusion: The findings from this study can contribute to a more detailed understanding of pupils' perspectives, which can help inform school-based interventions which aim to address physical inactivity and associated inequalities. Instead of using wearable devices for individual pupil ownership, schools should access data-insights with the intention of changing school practices.

Background: Increasingly, there are calls for educational equity to explicitly include LGBTQ+ students, including the creation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) clubs, or Genders and Sexualities Alliances (GSAs), which are associated with positive outcomes for LGBTQ+ students and promote a safer school climate for all students. However, less is known about strategies to initiate and sustain GSAs. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) serves as a case study of how to embrace LGBTQ+ equity through an evaluation of its current practices to support GSAs.

Methods: The study is comprised of two qualitative data strands, including 20 interviews with GSA sponsors and six focus groups with GSA students. Both forms of data were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. Analyses from each set of data were integrated, and overall themes were generated.

Results: Eleven school-level strategies for initiating and sustaining GSAs were identified and six district-level strategies were identified.

Implications: CPS is using these evaluation findings to further strengthen their work to support GSAs, and other districts can learn from their experiences, such as creating guidance and training to educate the school community about the rights of students and sponsors and resources, including funding for stipends to sponsors.

Conclusion: Increasing the number of schools with thriving GSAs is essential. CPS provides an illustrative case study of the key strategies at both the school and district levels to ensure that GSAs can serve to affirm, protect, and uplift LGBTQ+ students.