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Editorial: Health promotion in schools, universities, workplaces, and communities

2024; Frontiers Media; Volume: 12; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3389/fpubh.2024.1528206

2296-2565

Graça Simões de Carvalho, Teresa Vilaça,

Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet

This editorial summarises new developments in the Public Health research topic"Health Promotion in Schools, Universities, Workplaces, and Communities", which areplaces and social contexts where people engage in daily activities and in whichenvironmental, policy, organisational, and individual factors interact to affect healthand well-being. This research topic was very appealing as 105 manuscripts weresubmitted, and, following a rigorous evaluation and improvements suggested by high level reviewers, 44 (41,9%) papers were accepted for publication. Of these, 9 focus onhealth promotion in schools, 15 in universities, 5 in workplaces and 15 in communities.1. Health promotion in schoolsSchools are recognised worldwide as key settings for health promotion (Vilaça et al.,2019), as they provide access to a vast population of children from an early age todevelop health knowledge and healthy behaviours (Dadaczynski et al., 2020; Vieira &Carvalho, 2019), as well as to tackle social determinants of health inequality (WHO,2012). The 9 papers in this item are distributed in two issues:1.1. Four papers look at global school health education and promotion: Timothy JWalker and collaborators intended to better understand how components of a whole of school approach are implemented in practice by qualitatively exploring physicalactivity approaches and quantitatively assess implementation levels in US elementaryschools, and examined associations between school-level physical activity promotionand academic ratings; Adeline Darlington-Bernard and collaborators, did a scopingreview in English and French literature to identify definitions on Life Skills in the field ofhealth promotion at school, aiming to propose a conceptual definition and to reach aconceptual and consensual definition; Ulrich Hobusch and collaborators reported onthe integration of One Health principles educational frameworks, particularly withinthe context of the Austrian teaching training approach "Teaching Clinic", which alignswith the 2030 Agenda, Education for Sustainable Development, and the SustainableDevelopment Goals; and Chloé Gay and collaborators developed methodologies forcollecting and analysing mass qualitative data, enabling to measure how a cohortidentifies and prioritises preventive interventions to identify differences in conceptionsof the determinants of health and cancer between girls and boys, as expressed andperceived by French school children and adolescents.1.2. Five papers focused on specific topics of school health education and promotion:Ruilin Yan and collaborators identified predictors of e-cigarette uptake in Chineseyouths with no prior tobacco use, considering individual, familial and the broadersocietal environmental factors; Hailing Li and Jadeera Phaik Geok Cheong designed and developed a functional training programme (ADDIE) that can be incorporated intoexisting physical education lessons to improve Malaysian primary school students'physical fitness levels; Matthew Lee Smith and collaborators described the Revved UpKids (RUK) intervention in US that provides necessary tools for elementary-agedchildren recognise and avoid dangerous people and situations, and evaluated itscomponents and documents effectiveness; August Summers and collaboratorselucidated how parents/guardians of elementary and middle school students inMaryland (USA) navigated the return to in-person school following remote instructionand understand how they perceived communication about school-based COVID-19mitigation strategies and their preferences for the content and format of public healthcommunication about COVID-19 mitigation in schools; and Ingeborg Hyde andcollaborators examined the current state of social innovation and entrepreneurshipprogramming, courses, and centres within US schools of public health, identifying keyareas as opportunities for growth.2. Health promotion in universitiesInstitutions of higher education are recognised as relevant settings to protect healthand promote the well-being of the academic community (students, staff and the widercommunity) through their policies and practices and by linking health promotion toteaching and research (Sun & Shu, 2022; Tsouros et al., 1998). Of the 15 papers in thisitem, 6 are on health topics related to higher education students, 5 on medical andnurse students' training and their health conditions, and 4 on situations related toCOVID-19 in higher education.2.1. Six papers look at health topics related to high education students: SebastianHeller and collaborators investigated, in Germany, which of the predominant healthbehaviours (physical activity, healthy diet, sleep, sedentary behaviour, alcoholconsumption, smoking, drug use) are most associated with academic performance and whether the personal resource of trait mindfulness moderates these associations;Garry Ladd determined the status of Health, Wellness, Physical Fitness Lecture(HWPFL) and Health-Related Physical Activity (HRPA) courses in Texas communitycolleges; Abdulelah M. Aldhahir and collaborators evaluated the smoking prevalenceamong students on healthcare courses in Saudi Arabia; María Lavilla-Gracia andcollaborators estimated the effectiveness of the peer-led BASICS intervention toreduce risky alcohol consumption among university students in the Spanish context;Kaiqi Tang and collaborators explored the association between health informationpreferences and specific health behaviours and outcomes, such as preventivemeasures and chronic disease management among Chinese college students; andAsem Alkhatib and collaborators evaluated the effectiveness of the traditional ChineseBaduanjin exercise on reducing the menstrual symptoms for international femalestudents studying in China during the acculturation period.2.2. Five papers focus on issues related to medical and nurse students' training andtheir health conditions: Ivonne-Nadine Jürgensen and collaborators did a scopingreview to highlight the current scope of research on the health of health professionalstudents; Enrique Ramón-Arbués and collaborators determined the prevalence ofsymptoms of depression and anxiety, and the association between these symptomsand health-related behaviours in a population of Spanish student nurses; Eun HeeHwang and Kon Hee Kim examined the mediating effects of self-directed learningcompetency on the relationships between optimism, emotional intelligence andacademic resilience among South Korea nursing students; Xiaoqi Yang andcollaborators verified the role of Chinese medical students' physical literacy on health related quality of life and explored the chain mediating role of physical activity andsubjective well-being in it; and Vicente Antonio Gea-Caballero and collaboratorsestimated the level of attitudinal change in nursing students for immigrants, based ona training intervention with sessions of coexistence with immigrants in Spain.2.3. Four papers explore situations related to COVID-19 in higher education: NisreenAlwan and collaborators assessed hand hygiene awareness and practice levels amongvarious university communities in Lebanon; Liat Korn and collaborators estimatedacademic distress among Israel undergraduate students following COVID-19,characterised its nature regarding economic, social, and health indicators, andexamined the level of request for help subsequent mental distress; Ronit Ahdut-HaCohen and Paz Carmel examined the impact of Israel academic institutions onchanges to students' awareness and habits regarding a healthy lifestyle, specificallythrough nutrition and physical exercise, following the Covid-19 pandemic; and NoeliaNavas-Echazarreta and collaborators analysed the differences in smartphone use andthe prevalence of nomophobia according to gender and university degree of healthsciences students at the University of Zaragoza, Spain, during the COVID-19confinement.3. Health promotion in workplacesWorkplace Health Promotion refers to policies and practices that encourageemployers, employees and society to improve the health and well-being of people atwork by improving the work organisation and environment, promoting activeemployer and employee participation and encouraging personal development(ENWHP, 2018).3.1. The five papers submitted to this item focused on health promotion in workplaces:Andrea Schaller and collaborators did a scoping review of reviews to obtain anoverview of the main objectives and related outcomes of physical activityinterventions in workplace health promotion, as well as the setting-specific aspectsconsidered in the research field; Julian Friedrich and collaborators investigated theassociation of occupational health literacy (individual level), health-oriented leadership(interpersonal level), participation possibilities in health, and values of health inGerman companies (both organisational levels) on work ability; DeLong Wang andcollaborators assessed the level of health literacy and health investment intentionamong employees in one of China's largest petrochemical companies and explored the effect of health literacy on health investment intention; Tom Brandt and collaborators investigated whether resistance exercise snacking could be an efficient training approach for the workplace health promotion to minimise barriers for participation and facilitate resistance training in German women to improve musculoskeletal fitness; and Tom Brandt and collaborators investigated whether CrossFit® is an effective training concept to motivate German employees towards healthy behaviours to improve fitness and health in the long-term in inactive employees with sedentary occupations.4. Health promotion in communitiesCommunity health promotion seeks to enable "people to have control over theirhealth and its determinants strengthens communities and improves lives" (WHO,2012, p.1). Ethnic minorities and some migrant communities suffer health inequalitiesdisproportionately (WHO, 2012). Community participation is crucial to creating theconditions that empower people to have greater control over their health and wellbeing within their specific social context (South, 2014). The 15 papers in this item are equally distributed in the following three issues:4.1. Five papers focus on community minorities, inequalities and inclusion: Marisa L.Kutchma and collaborators monitored the implementation of a programme on USvulnerable communities (Black, Hispanic, or low-income people) that included freecommunity-based testing, screening for and assistance with social determinants ofhealth, dissemination of relevant and reliable COVID-related information, provision ofpersonal protective equipment, and facilitation of access to vaccines; Kavya Krishnanand collaborators assessed the feasibility of the crowdsourcing method to provide analternative approach that can improve household waste segregation using an 'online slogan-contest' in different geographic regions of India; Nicole Yao and collaboratorsexamined perspectives of experienced Community Health Workers (CHWs) about howCHWs can be integrated and utilised in US school settings to work as part of school based health teams to support student health and healthy school environments; OscarKohut and collaborators interviewed students of Hospital Lang Youth Medical Program(LYMP) participating for ten years in a mentoring and enrichment program forunderrepresented minority youth in Upper Manhattan (USA) to explore theirperspectives on what aspects of the program had the most impact on their academicand career paths; and Khadra Yasien Ahmed and collaborators developed a pilotintervention in Norway aiming to improve health in migrant communities throughmeaningful integration of highly educated migrants in academic environments.4.2. Five papers look at health topics related to nutrition, physical activity, and sexualand reproductive rights: Lynne M. Z. Lafave and collaborators revised and updated theCanadian Behaviour, Attitude and Nutrition Knowledge Survey (C-BANKS) to align withthe current Canadian food guide and dietary guidance and also reported on itsreliability and validity; Matías Monsalves-Álvarez and collaborators developedcommunity intervention strategies in Chile, using a participatory action researchapproach by identifying barriers and facilitators on the practice of healthy eating andphysical activity habits; Yin Qin and collaborators made a correction to the paper thatlooked at the effects of whole-body electromyostimulation training on upper limbmuscles strength and body composition in moderately trained Chinese males; PatriciaArnaiz and collaborators evaluated the short-term effects of the physical and healthKaziKidz intervention on cardiometabolic risk factors and the long-term, pre-and post-COVID-19 pandemic changes thereof in South African high-risk children frommarginalised communities; and Mekdes Mengesha Jemberie and collaboratorsassessed husbands' knowledge, involvement and factors influencing their involvementin Ethiopian women's sexual and reproductive health rights.4.3. Five papers explore health education and health literacy in communities: OparaMonica Onyinyechi and collaborators synthesised in a systematic review the evidenceof the impact of health education on malaria knowledge and insecticide-treated nets(ITN) usage in sub-Saharan Africa; Jingyi Zhao and Cun Fu examined the role oflanguage in discerning the authenticity of online health rumours in China to betterunderstand the credibility of online health information; Nayara Tamayo-Fonseca andcollaborators assessed the level of health literacy and analysed its relationship withsociodemographic variables, state of health, and use of health services in thepopulation aged 15 and over in the Valencian Community of Spain; Keiko Murakamiand collaborators estimated the associations of combinations of general HealthLiteracy (HL) and COVID-19-related HL with COVID-19 protective behaviours andhealthy lifestyle behaviours in Japanese metropolitan areas; and Yi Luo andcollaborators investigated the impact of cultural capital on health literacy during theCOVID-19 pandemic among Chinese community residents and to further examine themediating role of social capital in the relationship between cultural capital and healthliteracy.The research presented in these 44 papers published in the Public Health researchtopic "Health Promotion in Schools, Universities, Workplaces, and Communities" camefrom 18 countries of the various continents, demonstrating how live and pertinent isthis field of research worldwide, presenting different approaches and perspectives thatenrich this large, contemporary and relevant research field, which is still open to wideranging and diverse future research.