Jämlikhet och hälsa i skolan.pdf

Project Project summary summary in in English
English
Over the last years there has been an ongoing discussions on ways to increase
the conditions for equality in health between the major players in the public sector
in Sweden. School has been identified as an arena where health promotion
interventions for children and youth are possible as well as effective. The Association
for County Councils took the initiative to start this project on Equality in
Health in Schools.
Useful indicators and/or standards that are meaningful within the school setting
were at the heart of the project. The aim was to support the schools to identify
determinants for equality health and possible measurable indicators on equality
in health within their schools. The identification process should then lead to the
development and implementation of strategies to improve equality in health in the
school.
Three schools participated in the project, two in municipalities within Greater
Stockholm and one in a smaller town. All schools are publicly funded and have
groups of children who are living under difficult social circumstances. More so the
schools in greater Stockholm where the catchment areas also are characterised
by a larger and rather new multi-ethnic population. The schools were given some
economic support for the extra hours put in by the project leaders in the schools
as well as some theoretical input. There was a project co-ordinator to support
and document their work.
All three schools have managed to develop measurable indicators as well as
strategies to work with the issues concerned. They have developed methods to
measure the indicators, which can be used within the schools henceforth. Of
special interest is the fact that they independently have identified the same or
very similar areas of intervention: nutrition and eating habits, sleep, stress, and
the work environment in school, self-confidence/image of self and lack of physical
activity. All of the chosen indicators are well within the later established Swedish
public health goals.
The interventions in the schools have been carried out within the framework of
the set curriculum for Home economics and Physical education, special health
education hours or in special discussion groups for girls. Pedagogic tools have
been developed to help the children describe their life-styles and reflect on them.
These tools were also used for measuring purposes and matched against the
result on the relevant national standard school test. Most students that rated low
on the indicators also had poor results. The pedagogic tools also proved valuable
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