Attitudes to health promotion among teaching staff in South West England: a qualitative study

Abstract

Background Young people spend much of their formative years in education, making schools appealing environments for health promotion. The World Health Organisation’s Health Promoting Schools framework has been proposed as a useful model. We sought to explore secondary school teachers’ experiences of implementing this model and their attitudes to health promotion. Objectives To explore teachers’ experiences and perceptions of health promotion and compare practice with the HPS framework for school health. Design Qualitative study with semi-structured interviews Setting Nine state comprehensive schools in Bristol and surrounding areas. Participants 25 teaching staff from school senior leadership teams, those working in health education and other subject teachers. Analysis Thematic analysis using NVivo 10. Results Teachers largely described educational approaches with less emphasis on school ethos or environment. Staff supported a role for schools in promoting health but felt restrained by limited family engagement, contradictory school practices, resource constraints and conflicting government policies. Conclusions Future reforms should ensure health is mainstreamed across school strategies, if we are to create the conditions that promote future generations’ health. Public health must build alliances with educationalists to support the priority-setting of health in school inspections, policy and practice.