School- and intervention-related factors associated with institutionalization of health promotion interventions in elementary schools

TL;DR

This study explores factors that help health promotion programs become permanent in elementary schools in Quebec, Canada.

Contribution

The study identifies specific school and intervention-related factors linked to the institutionalization of health promotion interventions.

Findings

School culture aspects like community engagement and commitment to student health are linked to institutionalization.

HPIs with more teaching strategies and perceived success are more likely to be institutionalized.

Involving families or community groups in HPIs is associated with lower institutionalization rates.

Abstract

Long-term availability of health-promoting interventions (HPIs) in school settings can translate into health benefits for children. However, little is known about factors associated with HPI institutionalization in schools. In this study, we identified correlates of the institutionalization of HPIs offered in elementary schools in Quebec, Canada.

In two-part, structured telephone interviews over three academic years (2016–2019), elementary school principals (or their designees) throughout Quebec identified an index HPI offered at least once in their school during the previous three years, and were asked whether it was institutionalized (i.e. explicitly written in the school’s educational project, e.g. in the form of educational objectives and means of achieving them). We examined associations between institutionalization and 10 school-related and 16HPI-related characteristics in univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses.

School key informants (n=163) reported on 147 different HPIs that had been available in their schools in the past three years, 56% of which were institutionalized. Three aspects of school culture—parent/community engagement with the school, school/teacher commitment to student health and school physical environment—were positively associated with HPI institutionalization. HPI-related characteristics positively associated with HPI institutionalization included number of competencies addressed by the HPI, number of teaching strategies employed, modifications made to the HPI prior to or during implementation and perceived success of the HPI. Inviting families or community groups to participate in the HPI was inversely associated with institutionalization.

Better understanding of factors associated with HPI institutionalization may inform the development of school-based HPIs that have the potential for sustainability.

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