Background
The
Centre for Adolescent Health is a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Adolescent Health. We were engaged by WHO and UNESCO to review current policies and
evidence, and to develop new global standards, indicators, and an
implementation guidance for Health Promoting Schools (HPS) as part of
their initiative "making every school as health promoting school.”
This work involved a series of
discrete yet related projects. It has been informed by several rounds of
peer review by WHO, UNESCO and other UN organizations, an internal advisory
committee of experts that the CAH convened and an international consultation process. This led to
several related projects in the area of whole-school approaches to health and
wellbeing and the health and education interface.
Completed projects
- Policy Review: A review
of current guidelines and policies for HPS and similar initiatives in low,
middle, and high income countries
- Evidence Review: A
systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature on barriers and enabler to implementation
of HPS and similar initiatives in low, middle and high income countries
- A series of 8 country Case Profiles on HPS
implementation in low- and middle-income countries – Bhutan, Indonesia, Paraguay,
Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, Ukraine
- Development of the new Global Standards and
Indicators for HPS
- Development of an Implementation Guidance for
HPS
- The role of school connectedness in the prevention of youth depression and anxiety: a systematic review with youth consultation
- A related project, funded by the Wellcome Trust, on the role of school connectedness in depression and anxiety in young people
- A related project, funded through a University of Melbourne India School Education Engagement grant (2020), is a case study of implementation of a school-based health program in Bihar, India
Ongoing projects
- Development of Health-Promoting Schools Topic
Briefs on Mental health, Nutrition, Water and sanitation, Physical activity,
Substance use, and Sexual and reproductive health rights and gender (2021-23).
This work is undertaken as part of our role as a WHO Collaborating Centre for
Adolescent Health, reporting to WHO, UNESCO and UNICEF (Leads: Professor Susan Sawyer
and Dr Monika Raniti, in collaboration with Dr Natalie Evans, Dr Dot Dumuid [Uni SA], Dr
Wing Yuen [UNSW] and Dr Kajal Hirani).
- A training program to build capacity in whole
school approaches to promoting health and wellbeing (2023). Funded by the
Department of Education, Skills and Employment. Emerging Priorities Program
(Australia), and undertaken in collaboration with the Victorian Department of
Education, (Leads: Dr Monika Raniti, Dr Ruth Aston, and Professor Susan Sawyer).
- Implementing Health Promoting Institutions in
Schools in Malaysia (2022-24). A collaboration with the Malaysian Government,
funded by UNICEF Malaysia (Leads: Professor Susan Sawyer, Dr Monika Raniti, Dr
Ani Wierenga, Dr Ruth Aston).
Our Team
The team is comprised of researchers
and practitioners who have a broad interest and expertise in the intersection
between health and education (e.g., school health services, health promoting
schools, school-based health interventions).
Lead: Professor Susan Sawyer
Postdoctoral Researcher: Dr
Monika Raniti
Public Health and Health
Promotion specialist: Ms Kristina Bennett
Education and Evaluation
specialist: Dr Ruth Aston (Centre for Program Evaluation, Melbourne Graduate
School of Education, University of Melbourne)
Consultant: Ms Cristina de Nicolás Izquierdo
Communications specialist: Ms Molly O'Sullivan
Research Assistants
Dr Jennifer Dam
Past Volunteers and
Interns
Ms Manon Duay
Ms Catherine Waters
Undergraduate and postgraduate students
Aneta Bandilovska (Honours student)
Dr Erin Hoare (Masters student)
Margaretha
Margaretha (PhD student, University of Melbourne). A framework for mental health promotion in Indonesian schools
(originally from Airlangga University, Indonesia)
Dr
Peijin Hu (postdoctoral studies). Evaluation of China’s school preventive health services (Peking
University Institute of Child and Adolescent Health)
Internal Advisory Group
Ms Israt Jahan Baki, Dr Helen
Butler, Ms Andrea Krelle, Dr Lisa Mundy, Professor George Patton, A/Prof Nicola
Reavley, Dr Jenny Proimos, Dr Anitra Wierenga, Dr Sachin Shinde, and Dr Jon
Quach
Collaborators
- WHO
- UNESCO
- University of Melbourne
- Harvard University and Sangath, India (Dr Sachin
Shinde and Professor Vikram Patel)
Funding
- WHO
- The University of Melbourne (India School
Education Engagement grant)
- Handbury Family Trust, MCRI
- Wellcome Trust
Making every school a health-promoting school reports
Making every school a health-promoting school – Global standards and indicators
Spanish: Hacer que todas las escuelas sean promotoras
de la salud. Pautas e indicadores mundiales
Portuguese: Transformar cada escola em uma escola
promotora de saúde: Padrões e indicadores globais
Making every school a health-promoting school – Implementation Guidance
Making every school a health-promoting school – Country case studies
WHO guideline on school health services
Key publications
Sawyer, S. M., Raniti, M., & Aston, R. (2021). Making every school a health-promoting school. The Lancet. Child & adolescent health, S2352-4642(21)00190-5. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(21)00190-5
Raniti, M., Aston, R., Bennett, K., de Nicolás, C., Fridgant, M., Cehun, E., Sawyer, S.M. (2020). Global Standards and Indicators for Health Promoting Schools. Melbourne: Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
Aston, R., Raniti, M., Bennett, K., de Nicolás, C., Fridgant, M., Cehun, E., Sawyer, S.M. (2020). Global Implementation Guidance for Health Promoting Schools. Melbourne: Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
Margaretha, M., Azzopardi, P. S., Fisher, J., & Sawyer, S. M. (2023). School-based mental health promotion: A global policy review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1126767.
Bennett,
K., Raniti, M., de Nicolás, C., Cehun, E., Waters, C., Fridgant, M., Sawyer,
S.M. (2020). A global review of policy, standards and guideline documentation
for Health Promoting Schools. Melbourne: Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch
Children’s Research Institute. (in press)
Raniti,
M., Fridgant, M., Ross, A., de Nicolás, C., Bennett, K., Cehun, E., Reavley,
N., Sawyer, S.M. (2020). A systematic review of the enablers and barriers of
Health Promoting Schools. Melbourne: Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch
Children’s Research Institute. (in press)
Key presentations
- March 2020, Global consultation of HPS evidence
reviews with WHO and UNESCO external advisory group
- July 2020, India School Engagement Grant
workshop, University of Melbourne
-
Sept 2020, Professional
development session to Mental Health Practitioners in secondary schools for the
Victorian Department of Education and Training
- June 2021, Launch by WHO and UNESCO of Global Standards and
Indicators of Health Promoting Schools and Systems
- July 2021, Global
Health Forum, Melbourne Children's Campus
Media
Podcast
MJA Podcasts 2021 Episode 24: Health Promoting Schools, with Prof
Susan Sawyer, Dr Monika Raniti and Dr Ruth Aston | Podcast
Further information
For further information,
please contact Dr Monika Raniti.