Health Education

Health Education – a global movement

Health Education ---Paradigm Shift in Curriculum Reform

Professor Albert Lee

• WHO’s Global School Health Initiative: Helping Schools to Become “HealthPromoting Schools” (1995) – “to mobilize and strengthen health promotion and education activities at the local, national, regional and global levels”

Centre for Health Education and Health Promotion Faculty of Medicine The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Health Education – the importance • An important component of healthpromoting school – Improve health and learning ability of students – Prevent and reduce health risk behaviours in students – Improve quality of life of students

Curriculum Review (1) • A curriculum review is the opportunity for school to engage in personal, social and health education activities that support mental and social health as well as physical health • These would include lessons in life skills, citizenship, career education, family life education, AIDS education, drug education.

Health Education – Progress in Hong Kong • EMB: Developing a healthy lifestyle is one of the seven learning goals of the current curriculum reform • HPS pioneers (under the Hong Kong Healthy Schools Award Scheme): Reviewing school-based curriculum to integrate health elements in the syllabus

Curriculum Review (2) • The connection between these curriculum areas and more generic mental, emotional and social health can be made. • Bringing school's everyday activities, existing teaching programmes, social and affective education can provide a valuable starting point in persuading teachers that this is an important issue, and can empower and motivate for further action.

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Creating a supportive whole school environment • Holistic and integrated programme will not happen by chance. • It needs to be planned and co-ordinated within a coherent framework,otherwise the schools will just pick and choose from different initiatives, projects and materials in a way that is confusing and will almost certainly be replaced by the next fashionable issue.

Health Education for Students • Certificate Courses in Health Studies (Coming Soon)

Objectives At the end of the course, students should be able to: • gain knowledge and skills in different aspects of health • develop career planning skills and healthy life skills • understand safety and health issues at work • learn about the health care industry and healthrelated careers • acquire and practice basic skills in health promotion

Creating a supportive whole school environment • There is evidence that programmes aiming at developing emotional and social competences are more effective the longer they are in place, and most take years really to establish. • Programmes are most effective when they take a developmental approach, which starts teaching about health, including mental, emotional and social health, very ealry on the child’s school career.

Aim • To equip secondary students with health knowledge and skills for school, work and life

3-Level Certificate System • Basic level: F.1 – F.5 students • Intermediate level: F.5 graduates • Advanced level: F.7 graduates

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Major Course Content

Holistic Health Concepts

Career Planning Personal Health Skills

Communication Skills

Health Promoting Skills

School-based Teaching • Role of School – Identify core teachers with HE&HP qualification to coordinate the teaching of the assigned syllabus – Design teaching scheme to cover the whole syllabus fitting the school schedule – Carry out continuous assessment of students according to Centre’s guidelines – Attend refreshment workshop provided by Centre annually

Future Development Build up the foundation for: • Future career in healthcare field, personal care and social service industry • Further study in health-related academic programmes and general education courses in universities either locally or overseas • Further study in vocational courses in Hong Kong or oversea countries

Format of Teaching • Workshops • Guided readings • Practicum – Projects – Visits – Attachment

• In the form of school-based teaching

School-based Teaching • Role of Centre – Introduce the designed health education syllabus – Conduct refreshment workshop to the responsible teaching staff – Provide guidance to teaching staff on the continuous assessment of students – Conduct introductory seminars on health education to students and parents – Assure quality of teaching by periodic supervision at school – Grant certificates to students who have fulfilled all the requirements

Equipping school educators to teach health education and health promotion • Master Degree / Postgraduate Diploma / Professional Diploma Programme in Health Education and Health Promotion • Certificate Course in Health Education and Health Promotion for Pre-school Educators • Short Course on “Health Promoting Schools” – Local – International (Recent)

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Aims

Short course on “Health Promoting School” (International)

• To promote the “Health Promoting School” concept among school educators and related health professionals interested in school health • To guide them on the implementation of health promotion in schools

Objectives To enable course participants to: • Understand the “Health Promoting School” concept and its development • Be familiar with school health policy and its importance towards being the “Health Promoting School” • Realise the process of evaluating a “Health Promoting School” • Establish territory network to support each other in health promotion

Course Structure • Duration – 4-day

• Content – 6 areas of “Health Promoting School”

• Format – – – – –

Lecture Small group discussion Workshop Health promoting school sharing School visit

Target Participants • • • • • •

School workers School administrators School health policy makers Public health workers Professionals involved in HE&HP Professionals in the field of social science and social services • Community agents working closely with school

Counterparts from different parts of the world are welcomed!

2004: The First Intake • 15 participants • 5 registered on sponsorship of WHO for the organization of a regional network of leaders for health promoting schools in the Western Pacific Region

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Background of Participants • Home countries – – – – – – – – –

Negara Brunei Darussalam Republic of Kiribat Japan Vietnam Philippines Pakistan Laos PDR Papua New Guinea Tuvalu

Background of Participants • Professions – – – – – – –

University professors Health curriculum officer Schools supervisor Education program specialist Education officer Health professionals (doctors, nurse) Government officials (executive district officer, development worker)

Lectures

Group Discussion

Presentation & Feedback

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School Visit

Certificate Awarding

Thank you!

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