The WHO Health Promoting School framework for improving the health and well-being of students and staff

The effects on student health of interventions modifying the school environment: systematic review

“…We currently do not know whether modifying the SE is an ‘active ingredient’ in such programmes. Existing reviews are unable to answer this question because although systematic reviews of HPS/CSHP report positive findings,4 14 15 they cannot distinguish the effects of SE and health-education curricula. And while systematic reviews of multilevel studies conclude that various school-level factors are associated with better health outcomes,16 17 these are vulnerable to residual confounding and may focus on school factors not readily open to intervention.…”

The World Health Organization’s Health Promoting Schools Framework: A Cochrane Systematic Review and Meta Analysis

“…A protocol [15] for this review was published in The Cochrane Library and reporting of it adheres to PRISMA [16] guidelines.…”

Where next with theory and research on how the school environment influences young people's substance use?

“…While health education delivered in classrooms is effective in improving knowledge and attitudes, effects on behaviour are inconsistent and often unsustained (Faggiano et al, 2008, Foxcroft and Tsertsvadze, 2011. Hence there is increasing interest in interventions to modify the school environment, addressing some of the multiple upstream determinants of young people's health, with emerging evidence that such interventions can be effective (Langford et al, 2014b). This paper begins with a brief overview of theory about how the school environment influences young people's health behaviours before examining in depth the Theory of Human Functioning and School Organisation because this theory considers how specific features of the school environment might promote healthy behaviours including the avoidance of harmful substance use.…”

“…Health Promoting School (HPS) interventions aim to promote health via a three-pronged strategy involving transforming school environments, classroom health education, and outreach to parents and communities. A recent Cochrane systematic review of such interventions found that while they are effective for promoting various health outcomes, including reducing smoking, it is currently not clear whether they are effective for reducing alcohol or drug use (Langford et al, 2014a). The first key problem in interpreting this evidence is that these interventions involve multiple components and incorporate health education alongside elements intended to modify the school environment.…”