Health Care Supervisor’s Role in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Health Education Areas in Ma’an City Schools in Jordan

Abstract

This study aimed at showing health supervisor’s role in enhancing the effectiveness of health education areas in public schools in the city of Ma’an, Jordan, and its relationship to some demographic variables for the academic year 2016-2017.The study population consists of all health supervisors in public schools in the city of Ma’an for the academic year 2016-2017. The entire school number reached 38 schools including 13 schools for males, and 25 schools for females. The total sample size of the study was 38 supervisors as each school had one health supervisor. Due to the lack of the school populations, all the 38 supervisors had been used by 100% of the school population for the purpose of this study. In addition, the researcher had used descriptive analytical approach based on the case study or phenomenon as it was existed in the case. This phenomenon had been described accurately and expressed qualitatively and quantitatively.A study tool of 22 questions had been used for the application of this study and its data collection. The tool included four main parts: the first part contained questions 1-7 related to the first area (nutrition), and the second part contained questions 8-12 of the second area environmental health and public safety, whereas the third part had questions 13-17 which showed the third area the personal health of students and promoting health awareness. As to part four, it contained questions 18-22 related to the fourth area Reproductive health. Each response had been scaled according to Likert Scale Quintet.Data had been analyzed through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Also, frequencies, mean as well as standard deviation had been the statistical methods used for describing the variability of some data in our study. Furthermore, differential analysis tests such as analysis of variance test (One-Way ANOVA) had been used to see if there was any difference in the mean scores among groups on some variable. In addition, Cronbach’s Alpha had been used to measure the scale consistency.One of the most important results, shown by our study, had been the significant and effective role of the school health supervisor in Ma’an public schools for the academic year 2016-2017 in all areas of health education mentioned in the questionnaire. In addition, the results showed non-existence of statistically significant differences, attributed to variation in gender and the level of education, at the level of (α ≥ 0.05) for the role of health supervisor in enhancing the effectiveness of areas of health education in public schools. In the light of the results obtained in the present study, the researcher made many recommendations, among which the most important are: identifying health officer in each school who must have the required qualifications to hold the title of a health supervisor so that he/she could achieve all responsibilities to the fullest. Another important recommendation was to make an ongoing evaluation of school health programmes in those schools and also make workshops, seminars and conferences for teachers specializing in school health.