Research
There has been a lot of work undertaken in Scotland and other countries to help build the evidence base that supports health promoting school development.
The European Network of Health Promoting Schools offers an insight into evidence based practice from participating countries.
Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit projects
The Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit (CAHRU) at Edinburgh University has carried out various studies on child health and the impact health promoting schools have on the health behaviours of children and young people.
Brief details of current research studies are outlined below.
Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC): WHO Collaborative Cross-National Study
The HBSC study aims to gain new insight into, and increase understanding of, adolescent health behaviours, health and lifestyles in their social context.
HBSC was initiated in 1982 by researchers from three countries (Finland, Norway and England) and shortly afterwards the project was adopted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a WHO collaborative study.
The first cross-national survey was conducted in 1983/84 and since then data collection has been carried out every four years using a common research protocol. There are now 41 member countries in the HBSC study.
The International Coordinating Centre is responsible for coordinating all international activities within the HBSC research network and is based at CAHRU, University of Edinburgh.
The target age groups are 11-, 13- and 15-year-olds with a sample of approximately 1500 from each age group in all participating countries. The data collected is compiled into an international data file, which is managed by the Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD) under the guidance of the study's Data Bank Manager based at the University of Bergen in Norway.
Scotland has been a member of the HBSC study research network since 1985. Four national surveys have been conducted, in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002, with the fifth scheduled for January/February 2006.
Findings from the research have been widely disseminated to schools and education authorities, most recently in a series of HBSC Briefing Papers. For more information including details of HBSC research publications please see the HBSC page of the CAHRU website.
PASS - Physical Activity in Scottish Schoolchildren
PASS is a longitudinal research study which aims to track changes in levels of physical activity across the transition from primary to secondary school and to investigate the influence of personal, social and environmental factors on physical activity behaviour. In 2002, 1600 children were recruited to the study and to date they have been followed through from P7 to S3.
Data is collected through a questionnaire survey undertaken annually. Qualitative interviews have also been carried out with a sub-sample of pupils and school-level data has also been collected. Plans are under way to extend the study to follow pupils through to S5.
PASS is part of a broader programme of research and evaluation focusing on health promoting schools. For more information see the European Network of Health Promoting Schools page of the CAHRU website.CHETS - Changes in Child Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke
CHETS aims to monitor children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke before and after the introduction of the new legislation to ban smoking in enclosed public places. CHETS offers a unique and final opportunity to compare pre and post ban exposure in Scotland.
The research comprises two surveys, one before and one after the ban. The surveys will involve approximately 2500 pupils in approximately 100 primary schools throughout Scotland. Primary 7 pupils will be surveyed in January 2006 and another P7 year group will be surveyed in January 2007. For more information see the CHETS page of the CAHRU website.
Including children with learning disabilities/special educational needs into national health surveys: a pilot study
A current project (supported by the Chief Scientist Office) is assessing the feasibility of including pupils with significant learning and/or communication difficulties into national surveys of adolescent health needs and health behaviours by making questionnaire content more accessible and by modifying response requirements.
Useful sources
Other useful sources of health related research include:
