Every day, schools engage in numerous activities that help promote the health and well-being of students, families, and communities. There is clear evidence of the benefits of the health-promoting schools (HPS) approach (1, 2, 3), not only for improving overall health outcomes (physical, mental, and social) in the educational community but also for achieving better learning outcomes. The closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted these benefits, as well as the close links between health, wellness, and education.
Recognizing this potential, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have been promoting the HPS initiative (4) for over two decades so that educational systems can see the various ways that health and wellbeing can be promoted in the educational community as a whole, and can take a leading role in addressing them. The HPS initiative involves planned, systematic, participatory, multidimensional, and coordinated work between the educational community and other social institutions (health services, local governments, and other organizations).
Evaluation of the initiative around the world, and in the Region of the Americas in particular, has led to recommended standards to guide the process of transforming educational institutions. Based on these standards, practices, and evidence, this guide presents conceptual and methodological materials to help each school in the Americas progressively become a health-promoting school.
The term health-promoting school is used here to refer to institutions at all levels of schooling (preschool, primary, and secondary) that take a comprehensive approach to promoting health and school performance in their communities, using the organizational potential of schools to promote physical, socioemotional, and psychological wellness, all of which will contribute to better health and positive educational outcomes. Although this concept may go by different names (healthy schools, healthy educational environments, etc.), it is applicable to all health and wellness promotion initiatives in school settings that seek to implement a comprehensive, multicomponent approach.
It is expected that this guide will motivate educators, health workers, and other school-related workers, help them recognize each component of the initiative, and encourage them to promote its implementation, adapted and restructured for specific contexts.
To facilitate implementation of the HPS initiative in educational institutions at all levels (preschool, primary, and secondary), taking a comprehensive approach in accordance with WHO and UNESCO global standards and indicators (3), and within the framework of the Strategy and Plan of Action on Health Promotion within the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals 2019-2030 (5) and the Plan of Action for Women's, Children's, and Adolescents' Health 2018-2030 (6)
To introduce the conceptual and operational bases of the HPS initiative and help motivate the teams that coordinate its implementation, and to provide conceptual and methodological tools for the HPS initiative to be promoted in a critical and contextualized manner.
This guide will be useful for all personnel in educational institutions, at the preschool, primary, and secondary levels, including management, teachers, school psychologists, support staff, and administrative workers, among others. It will also be useful for professionals from different sectors (e.g., education, health, and social development) whose activities are linked to health and wellness in educational institutions at all three levels.
This guide includes a section on concepts and one on methodology. The first section describes the conceptual basis of the benefits of promoting health in schools, the HPS initiative, how it is defined, and its characteristics and components. The second deals with methodological aspects of HPS implementation, including recommendations, requirements, and steps to be followed by the school team in charge of initiating the process, as well as educational activities for students at different levels. This makes it possible to design the HPS work plan in a participatory manner, involving family members, health workers, and other relevant local actors in each community.
It is suggested to read the section on concepts first, then the section on methodology. It should be clarified that the examples given here are only of some of the activities that can be adapted and recreated in each context, according to the needs of each educational community.