A health promotion intervention strengthening Swedish high school students' wellbeing: A feasibility study

Abstract

The majority of Swedish school children enjoy a general good health. Still, mental health problems are increasing among young people in Sweden. According to Swedish law all school staff members (teachers and student health professionals) have mutual responsibility to provide a safe school environment and health. Since 2010, there is an emphasis on health promotion in schools. The aim of this study is to describe the feasibility and pilot outcomes of a health promoting intervention targeting healthy high school students (the Strengthening Adolescent Wellbeing [SAW] project). A descriptive design was used with an intervention group that was assessed before and after the implementation of the programme using quantitative methods. The study was based on the Medical Research Council Framework. The study and the data collection were performed during the autumnof 2016 and the early spring of 2017. Public high school students' health professionals, that is school nurses, student counselors and specialist educators, facilitated a research-based intervention consisting of eight sessions with education and mind-body practices. Pre- and post-testing were carried out. The main findings showed enhanced levels of wellbeing among the participating students and the student-related measures all showed improvements. The intervention seems to have been feasible in this context. Findings from this study indicate that the SAW methodology contributed to an improvement in high school students' wellbeing. The study will provide a base for a full-scale evaluation study intended to evaluate the effect of this health-promoting programme.