In 1998, the municipality of Villeurbanne decided to review its school health service in order to restructure and adjust its activity to better meet the needs of schools which had evolved and developed differently according to their areas of location. In view of the rarity of available information to measure the needs, an information system was built using a participatory and consensual approach. The system has been operational since the year 2000. It was evaluated in 2003 and then adapted according to the results. It has a variety of uses for planning purposes: to classify the schools according to their requirements, to plan the working time and schedules of the nurses, and to programme and evaluate specific actions. It also allows for mapping the health status of the pupils in Villeurbanne and to describe the service's activity. This article presents the design and construction of the information system and serves as a platform to debate the benefits and limitations of this approach in Villeurbanne.
A school health municipal service has been in existence in Villeurbanne since its creation in 1935. It works throughout the city's schools, and in particularly in places which provide the last year of nursery school and all primary-level schools as well. In 1998 it was integrated into the office of the Directorate for Hygiene and Public Health, which provided an opportunity to reconsider its mission and reflect upon the priorities. The balance between screening and prevention was examined. Furthermore, its approach to thematic issues was put into question given the lack of a strategic overall programming methodology. The new health policy aimed at students was executed through a reorganization of evaluations, leading to the creation and implementation of a new programme called "I take care of myself" specifically targeting all first grade children. The results of this programme, which focuses on the development of a more comprehensive approach, are encouraging. Thanks to the programme, health has been reinstalled in its proper place in the schools, and it has become a matter of great importance for the children, their parents and the teachers. Furthermore, the school health service has consolidated and strengthened its role in this manner.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.