Comprehensive School Health: How can we level the playing field with respect to socio-economically disadvantaged school- aged children and youth? ACHSC Conference ‘2006

Facilitators  Dianne Drummond, Regional Mental Health, Capital Health, Edmonton  Colin Inglis, Coordinator, City Centre Education Project, Edmonton  Fred Sudfeld, Clinical Consultant with The Family Centre, Edmonton

Goals  Familiarize you with the literature  Familiarize you with practical projects addressing this issue  To get you thinking about how you might tackle this concern in your own environment

Background Paper: Socioeconomic Disadvantage: Health and Education Outcomes May 16, 2006 Available at (new documents June 2006)

Link between SES, Health & Education  Health 50% affected by social environment: physiological health/disease states, injury, mental health, mortality, self-perceived health, access to health care, smoking, PA & obesity  SES is the strongest predictor of educational achievement & outcomes: grades & testing, parental involvement & expectations, truancy, behavior

Interaction between Health & Education  Health status improves with level of education, by: contributing to adoption of healthier lifestyles & encouraging resilience Improving access to appropriate health services Also- healthier people tend to stay in education longer  Positive MH (linked to SES) offers stable advantage to students’ grades  Interaction between all three, so interventions targeting one may also benefit others

The Current State  Socio-economic inequality Child poverty in Canada 15-20% Poverty in Alberta 16.2%; Calgary 14.1%; Edmonton 16.2% (Stats Canada 2002)  Health Inequality Low income men live 5 yr. less; women 2 yr. Infant mortality is 2/3 higher in low SES  Educational Inequality 25% of Canadian children have risk for poor success – higher in poverty communities In Alberta: schools ranking shows that students in higher income communities score higher

Promising Practice  Limited information about interventions & evaluation scarce  No comprehensive school health approaches  Policy Implications: need an integrated, comprehensive funding approach approach should encompass early childhood, adult education, parental development & community development underlying social disparities need to be addressed (but difficult) Government of Canada Policy Research Initiative (Burstein, 2005) ppg

Promising Practice (Cont’d)  Interventions: Nutritional programs  School breakfasts & lunches Pathways to Education (2001+)  Addresses students living in disadvantaged communities (drop-in tutoring, mentoring, postsecondary scholarships, incentives to complete HS, advocacy)

Summary  The message is clear: Socioeconomic disadvantage produces and perpetuates disadvantage, beginning at young age and operating throughout the course of a lifetime  Health, education & socioeconomic factors are interconnected  Health ↔ education  SES → health  SES → educational attainment & outcomes

Conclusions  Programming aimed at improving outcomes for school- age youth should target variety of facets (Comprehensive School Health)  Few programs are currently available → strong argument for greater time, attention, & evaluation of comprehensive interventions aimed at children, and adolescents, their schools, their families, & their communities

Workshop Questions What are some of the things that need to happen to make your dream become a reality? What are some of the challenges; and ways to address the challenges? What is your commitment (1 week, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year…)