Abstract
BackgroundHealth and well-being promotions are key points of educational programs for adolescents within schools. There are several health education programs mainly based on lifestyle habit changes; however, social and emotional dimensions should be considered within these educational strategies.ObjectiveThis study aimed to (1) develop a new web-based school support system to assess and analyze individual, classroom, and scholastic institute data on lifestyle habits, social context, emotional status, and scholastic performance; (2) create a web tool for managing the well-being of adolescents through a dynamic and personalized interface that provides immediate feedback that allows the school to monitor progress; and (3) evaluate, in a pilot study, the feasibility of this web-based school support system in order to build health programs that are specific to the needs of the studied population.MethodsThe AVATAR (a new purpose for the promotion and evaluation of health and well-being among healthy teenagers) method consists of integrating the information coming from different questionnaires. In particular, to allow planning didactic and educational actions based on the results obtained, the AVATAR approach allows subdivision of the results of the different observed variables and the 4 components into the following 3 percentile categories: modify, improve, and maintain. The AVATAR web platform was designed to collect data on lifestyle, emotional status, and social context from junior high schools in terms of the fundamental aspects of adolescent daily life, with free use by the scholastic community (scholars, teachers, and parents). In this pilot/feasibility study, data from 331 students were acquired between 2018 and 2019 at the beginning of the scholastic year (pre) and at the end following the school-based program (post).ResultsPreliminary results showed that after school planning and specific program implementation, defined after AVATAR feedback, students reported better well-being perception characterized by higher perception in psychological well-being (P=.001), mood (P=.001), self-perception (P=.006), and autonomy (P=.001), and an increase in the perception of financial resources (P=.001), which helped in developing healthy lifestyle habits (P=.007). In the social context assessment, students reported stronger relationships with family (P=.02) and peers (P=.001), and a lower perception of bullying (P=.001).ConclusionsThe AVATAR web-based platform is a feasible and flexible tool for the health and well-being management of adolescents from epidemiological, preventive, and educational points of view. In particular, it can be used to (1) promote information campaigns aimed at modifying risk behaviors in the student population, (2) sensitize students and put them at the center of their growth path, (3) inform institutions about the health and well-being of the school population, (4) ensure health programs are acceptable and feasible to users before launching on a large scale, and (5) improve the relationship of users (school) and educational agencies with research groups.
Highlights
Health and well-being promotions are key points of educational programs for adolescents within schools
It can be used to (1) promote information campaigns aimed at modifying risk behaviors in the student population, (2) sensitize students and put them at the center of their growth path, (3) inform institutions about the health and well-being of the school population, (4) ensure health programs are acceptable and feasible to users before launching on a large scale, and (5) improve the relationship of users and educational agencies with research groups
This study aimed to examine the potential impact of the development of a web-based school support system to acquire, archive, and analyze online data about lifestyle habits, social context, emotional status, and scholastic performance in order to provide immediate feedback of the results to the school
Summary
Health and well-being promotions are key points of educational programs for adolescents within schools. Considering that different factors have impacts on health and well-being in adolescents, including those in the social, emotional, and mental context, these health components should be implemented within health education programs [4] In this regard, the KIDSCREEN questionnaire is a standardized tool to assess the quality of life and well-being of adolescents, which has been validated in several European countries and includes items of different areas impacting health in adolescents, that can help to identify critical areas for health education program interventions [5]. In the perspective of an integrated and multidisciplinary framework of health intervention, our group developed an integrated and personalized index of well-being built on the integration of the weights of items belonging to the dimensions of lifestyle, social context, emotional status, and mental skills [6] This index has been built for a single adolescent, where health interventions can be oriented in a personalized approach. There are several health education programs mainly based on lifestyle habit changes; social and emotional dimensions should be considered within these educational strategies
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