The promotion of oral health within the Healthy School context in England: a qualitative research study.



Stokes, Emma, Pine, Cynthia M ORCID: 0000-0002-0791-5102 and Harris, Rebecca V ORCID: 0000-0002-5891-6826
(2009) The promotion of oral health within the Healthy School context in England: a qualitative research study. BMC oral health, 9 (1). 3-.

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Abstract

<h4>Background</h4>Healthy Schools programmes may assist schools in improving the oral health of children through advocating a common risk factor approach to health promotion and by more explicit consideration of oral health. The objectives of this study were to gain a broad contextual understanding of issues around the delivery of oral health promotion as part of Healthy Schools programmes and to investigate the barriers and drivers to the incorporation of oral health promoting activities in schools taking this holistic approach to health promotion.<h4>Methods</h4>Semi-structured telephone interviews were carried out with coordinators of Healthy Schools programmes in the Northwest of England. Interview transcripts were coded using a framework derived from themes in the interview schedule.<h4>Results</h4>All 22 Healthy Schools coordinators participated and all reported some engagement of their Healthy Schools scheme with oral health promotion. The degree of this engagement depended on factors such as historical patterns of working, partnerships, resources and priorities. Primary schools were reported to have engaged more fully with both Healthy Schools programmes and aspects of oral health promotion than secondary schools. Participants identified healthy eating interventions as the most appropriate means to promote oral health in schools. Partners with expertise in oral health were key in supporting Healthy Schools programmes to promote oral health.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Healthy Schools programmes are supporting the promotion of oral health although the extent to which this is happening is variable. Structures should be put in place to ensure that the engagement of Healthy Schools with oral health is fully supported.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Journal article BMC oral health BMC Oral Health. 2009 Jan 15;9(1):3.## TULIP Type: Articles/Papers (Journal) ##
Uncontrolled Keywords: health promoting activities, health promotion, healthy eating
Subjects: ?? RK ??
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Life Courses and Medical Sciences > School of Dentistry
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 29 Jan 2009 14:17
Last Modified: 17 Dec 2022 01:18
DOI: 10.1186/1472-6831-9-3
Publisher's Statement : © 2009 Stokes et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/1034