Impact of Wellness Policy Review, Wellness Council Activity, and Student Health Objectives on Overall School Wellness Climate.

Publisher: Wiley Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0376370 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1746-1561 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00224391 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Sch Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Nov. 2008- : Hoboken, NJ : Wiley
Original Publication: Columbus, Ohio : American Association of School Physicians

Health Policy* ; Health Promotion*; Child ; Humans ; Students ; Schools ; Pennsylvania ; School Health Services

Background: The whole school, whole community, whole child (WSCC) model suggests wellness councils, ongoing review of wellness policy, and a plan for evaluating set objectives are some of the key features needed to support school wellness infrastructure. This study explored the relationship between implementation of these infrastructure features and overall school wellness environment assessment scores among a sampling of Pennsylvania schools.
Methods: The Healthy Champions program provides Pennsylvania schools an opportunity to self-assess their wellness environments across several school wellness topics. Staff enrolled their school in the program by completing a self-report electronic assessment. Enrollment data from the 2020/2021 program year were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and linear fixed model to identify the impact of varied implementation levels across 3 wellness infrastructure activities. Interactions between these variables and overall assessment score were also analyzed.
Results: Of the 645 Pennsylvania schools enrolled and analyzed, we observed higher mean wellness environment assessment scores (∆ 0.74 95% CI 0.40-1.07; p < 0.001) among schools that reported some frequency of all 3 wellness infrastructure activities, compared to schools that reported no frequency for the activities.
Implications: Schools with existing policies and practices related to the 3 wellness infrastructure activities should consider the degree of implementation to best support overall wellness in their school setting. Additional research to explore implementation barriers and supports is needed.
Conclusions: Analyses indicated that overall wellness environment assessment scores are impacted by implementation thresholds for wellness council meeting frequency, revision of wellness policy, and review of student health promotion objectives.
(© 2023 The Authors. Journal of School Health published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American School Health Association.)

J Biomed Inform. 2009 Apr;42(2):377-81. (PMID: 18929686)
J Sch Health. 2015 Nov;85(11):817-23. (PMID: 26440824)
J Sch Health. 2015 Nov;85(11):759-65. (PMID: 26440817)
J Sch Health. 2015 Nov;85(11):795-801. (PMID: 26440821)
J Sch Health. 2015 Nov;85(11):729-39. (PMID: 26440815)
Am J Health Promot. 2022 May;36(4):651-661. (PMID: 34967223)
Annu Rev Public Health. 2019 Apr 1;40:443-463. (PMID: 30566386)
Prev Med Rep. 2019 Nov 12;16:101018. (PMID: 31890473)
J Sch Health. 2011 Oct;81(10):593-8. (PMID: 21923870)
Health Promot Pract. 2017 May;18(3):418-427. (PMID: 27095036)
J Sch Health. 2019 Apr;89(4):279-299. (PMID: 30784071)
Prev Med. 2017 Aug;101:34-37. (PMID: 28528173)
J Biomed Inform. 2019 Jul;95:103208. (PMID: 31078660)
J Sch Health. 2015 Nov;85(11):802-9. (PMID: 26440822)

R44 TR000045 United States TR NCATS NIH HHS; UL1 TR002014 United States TR NCATS NIH HHS; UL1 TR00045 United States TR NCATS NIH HHS; UL1 TR00045 United States TR NCATS NIH HHS; UL1 TR002014 United States TR NCATS NIH HHS

Keywords: school climate; school health program evaluation; school health program planning; systems analysis and systems change

Date Created: 20230317 Date Completed: 20240207 Latest Revision: 20241023

20241023

PMC10504407

10.1111/josh.13324

36928540