Components of Health Promoting Schools in Ugandan primary schools: a pilot study

Abstract

Health Promoting Schools (HPSs) represent key settings through which health can be improved. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has provided component indicators but data on the degree of coverage of these key components of HPSs in many countries are limited. The aim of this pilot study was to determine whether and to what extent information on the components of HPSs in Ugandan primary schools could be generated using focus group discussions (FGD) as well as through observational data. Four schools (two rural and two urban) were randomly selected from the sampling frame of 18 rural and 76 urban government-aided primary schools in Mbale District, Uganda. Focus group discussions (FGDs) involving teachers, parents and pupils were held at each school. Indicators of HPSs were also observed and recorded at each of the selected schools. A scoring system was devised based on the number of positive attributes derived from the WHO list of component indicators. Descriptive analysis from FGDs and observational data was also undertaken. Overall, the urban schools had a higher number of positive observations than rural schools for HPS indicators with some marked variation between urban and rural schools for specific indicators. This pilot study provided data to show that coverage of HPS components by different schools could be successfully evaluated using FGD and observational findings. Those strengths and shortcomings identified within and between the four schools necessitate further exploration with a larger scale study.