"For me, Pressure at School is the Most Relevant in my Life" - Empirical Based Implications for Life World Orientation in Health Promotion at School

Abstract

"For me, Pressure at School is the Most Relevant in my Life" - Empirical Based Implications for Life World Orientation in Health Promotion at School School is a key system that supports all processes of adolescent development. Next to qualification, as one part of personality development, all developmental tasks of adolescence can take place within the school environment, through close interplay. This interplay both influences, and is influenced by young people's health which is essential to promote adolescent development and foster wellbeing in everyday life for young people. On one hand, risk taking behaviour can impact health and developmental progress. On the other hand, biopsychosocial changes can emerge to challenge young people in terms of coping with life and managing the tasks of normal adolescent development. Experiencing ill health can further limit young people's access to systems and social interaction essential to promote development. In this instance, life world orientation in health promotion becomes one fundamental part of social work, especially school social work (Rademaker, 2017b). In this paper a holistic perspective on health is formulated, as an essential part of young people's daily life. The paper specifically focusses on social work's potential to empower young people to engage with their available resources to promote health related agency. A triangulated study (2013-2015) provides an empirical example. Based on a questionnaire with 500 pupils aged 15-16 years (N = 395), three health types could be identified, a healthy, an unhealthy and one in average, and prototypical cases (N = 12) were interviewed in focus group discussions. The interplay of resources and structural borders in the life world of the participants could be reconstructed to provide understanding of how health related agency emerges in the lives of young people and shape their option to health.