Abstract
According to Swedish law, all students are to be offered health dialogues with a school nurse, which helps to promote students’ health literacy. However, research shows that the health dialogues are not being used to their fullest potential. To explore how health dialogues are experienced by school actors – students, teachers and school nurses. The 93 participants from 14 municipalities in northern Sweden wrote open letters sharing their experiences with health dialogues. Phenomenological analysis resulted in two themes with three sub-themes each that describe well-functioning health-promoting schools in which health promotion was seen as a shared practice among staff. In contrast, the participants expressed frustration or resignation with the challenges connected to health dialogues. When given a voice, school actors paint an informative collective picture of health dialogues. Based on our findings, we argue that health dialogues can \promote students' health literacy and enable collaboration between different actors within educational systems. Furthermore, promoting health in school must be viewed as a common assignment for all school staff, and support from school leadership is needed to systematically use the results from health dialogues to inform effective health promotion practice.
Highlights
Health is inextricably linked to education, as education is one of the most impactful determinants of public health (Gustafsson et al, 2010)
In Sweden, health promotion perspectives are integrated into daily pedagogical work in pre- and primary school, where teachers and school health staff share the responsibility of promoting health among their students (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2010)
When given a voice, school actors paint a collective picture of health dialogues including examples of successful practices and areas of improvement
Summary
Health is inextricably linked to education, as education is one of the most impactful determinants of public health (Gustafsson et al, 2010). In Sweden, health promotion perspectives are integrated into daily pedagogical work in pre- and primary school, where teachers and school health staff share the responsibility of promoting health among their students (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2010). According to the national curriculum and Swedish school law, the school should promote learning and harmonious development for all students while paying attention to health and lifestyle issues (SFS, 2010:800). According to Swedish law, all students are to be offered health dialogues with a school nurse, which helps to promote students’ health literacy. We argue that health dialogues can promote students' health literacy and enable collaboration between different actors within educational systems. Promoting health in school must be viewed as a common assignment for all school staff, and support from school leadership is needed to systematically use the results from health dialogues to inform effective health promotion practice
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