Baseline data on coordinated school health programs in the state of Ohio

American Journal of Health Studies, Wntr, 2001 by Jann Greenberg, Randall Cottrell, Amy L. Bernard

Abstract: Many Ohio agencies encouraged school districts to adopt coordinated school health programs. Baseline data to assess the success of these efforts was collected. Two hundred and twenty-five surveys were mailed to randomly selected Ohio public school districts. Results demonstrated that many districts had been exposed to the coordinated school health concept. Many had some components in place, but few had well established/coordinated programs in all eight areas. Data collected will assist in measuring the success of efforts in Ohio to promote coordinated school health by providing a benchmark against which future programs and statewide efforts can be evaluated.

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Since the 1990's, the term "comprehensive school health" has been replaced by the term "coordinated school health" to demonstrate the cooperation and joint planning between the eight components needed for successful school health programs to occur. The definition of an effective coordinated school health program included: school health services, school health education, school health environment, integrated school and community health promotion efforts, school physical education, school food service, school counseling, and school site health promotion for faculty and staff (Allensworth & Kolbe, 1987).

Coordinated school health programs were deemed necessary for two main reasons. First, children could not be expected to be ready to learn if they were not healthy and well cared for. Educational goals could not be met because of the poor health of students and their families (Auter, 1993). Henderson (1993) stated that schools were obligated to ensure that students had a basic health status that would enable them to learn and to provide them with the skills necessary to participate fully in society. Second, the current major health problems facing our nation today were largely preventable and could be attributed to changeable behaviors, many of which began in youth (Jackson, 1994). In Ohio, many efforts were initiated to encourage school districts to adopt coordinated school health education programs that encompassed the eight components listed above.

BACKGROUND

Several different efforts in Ohio had been designed to promote statewide coordinated school health education. These efforts were spearheaded by groups such as the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), the State Planning Committee for Health Education in Ohio (SPCHEO), and the Ohio Division of the American Cancer Society. Each of these efforts used different approaches that targeted different groups.

The Ohio Comprehensive School Health Conference held at Salt Fork State Park in southeast Ohio, was modeled after other such conferences held nationwide. School districts sent teams composed of board members, administrators, teachers, professional staff, clerical and support staff, parents, and business and community leaders to this conference. While at the conference, these teams were responsible for developing an action plan to aid in the establishment of coordinated school health education in their districts. The ODH and ODE provided support to teams before, during, and after the conference (Cottrell, Capwell, & Brannon, 1995).

The State Planning Committee for Health Education in Ohio (SPCHEO) was a group of state level professionals dedicated to improving the health status of youth. Since their inception, they had developed a model plan to assist school/health community teams in developing programs through systematic planning. The model consisted of six phases: team building, needs assessment and analysis, setting priorities, goals and objectives, implementation, and evaluation. Other efforts by SPCHEO included attempts to influence health education legislation, allocation of block grant money, minimum standards for school, and conferences aimed at influencing teachers, administrators, and community health representatives, (Cottrell et al., 1995; Capwell, 1988).

The Ohio Division of the American Cancer Society (ODACS) developed an action plan and regional workshops. The aim of the action plan was to promote the institutionalization of coordinated school health education in all of Ohio schools by the year 2000. The action plan was structured around six core issues: policy; awareness; goals and objectives; professional preparation; resources; and parent; family; and community (American Cancer Society, 1993). Regional workshops were conducted for school/community coalitions. A manual entitled Health for Success was developed for use by the coalitions (American Cancer Society, 1995). In addition, ODACS developed a mini grant program to help districts initiate coordinated school health programs. An award program was in developmental stages to recognize districts with outstanding programs (Rooney, L., personal communication, June, 1999).

Considering many groups in the state of Ohio had put forth efforts to encourage school districts to adopt coordinated school health education programs, the remaining question was, "How effective were these efforts?"