1. PROMOTING WELLBEING TO ENSURE EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS AMONG STUDENTS WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS
Alistair Lum, Claire Wakefield, Barb Donnan, Mary Burns, Joanna Fardell, Glenn Marshall

2. Positive Educational Practices Framework
Positive educational practices  school wellbeing  engagement with school  academic performance
School wellbeing
Positive educational practices
Engagement with school

3. Serious Chronic Illness
Approximately 1 in 10 affected
School experiences
Lower engagement with school (10-30%)
Poorer academic grades and graduation outcomes
Poorer school outcomes related to emotional wellbeing
Emotional school support can enable school success
Suris, J.-C., Michaud, P.-A., Akre, C. & Sawyer, S. M. (2008) Health risk behaviors in adolescents with chronic conditions. Pediatrics, 122, e1113-e1118.
Van Der Lee, J. H., Mokkink, L. B., Grootenhuis, M. A., Heymans, H. S. & Offringa, M. (2007) Definitions and Measurement of Chronic Health Conditions in Childhood. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 297,

4. EduSwell study
AIM: To examine the relationship between positive educational practices and students’ wellbeing and engagement with school.
RQ: Does the PEP framework apply equally to students with and without a chronic illness?
PEP WB
EwS

5. EduSwell – Methods Participants Questionnaire – Proxy measures
Australian parent of a school-aged child with or without illness
Questionnaire – Proxy measures
Receipt of positive educational practices
E.g. My child’s teacher makes learning engaging for my child
Engagement with school
E.g. My child is motivated to achieve at school
Student wellbeing
E.g. Thinking about the last week, have you been happy at school
Telephone interview
School and non-school support

6. EduSwell – Methods Structural equation model (SEM) Content analysis
Similar to a regression model but with a lot more information
Useful for tests of theoretical frameworks or models
Mediation – to examine mechanisms of relationship
Moderation – to compare groups on a model
Content analysis
Count the number of times a theme or subtheme is described

7. EduSwell – Results Group comparisons
Significantly lower school wellbeing
Equal level of positive educational practices and engagement with school

8. EduSwell – Results
Predictors of Engagement with school in Illness group
24 school, health, and sociodemographic variables examined in separate univariate analyses
11 significant at p ≤.1, entered into multivariate regression
3 significant at p ≤.05
School wellbeing (p≤.001)
Positive educational practices (p=.017)
History of major medical procedure (p=.033)

9. Positive Educational Practices Framework
Illness = 79%
Control = 36%
School wellbeing
Illness = .70***
Control = .48***
Illness = .78***
Control = .60***
Positive educational practices
Engagement with school
Illness = .15
Control = .51***

10. EduSwell – Qualitative findings
25 parents identified a link between school wellbeing and engagement with school
15 discussed wellbeing in terms of distress and anxiety
21 described wellbeing in terms of confidence and happiness
22 parents described Positive Educational Practices and engagement with school
12 commented on tailoring schoolwork to students’ strengths
8 described the role of safety and support of positive emotions
6 described caring and empathetic teachers
3 desired school support to help their child reach their potential

11. EduSwell – Summary of findings
Students with chronic illness have lower school wellbeing than students without chronic illness
School wellbeing is a stronger predictor of engagement with school for students with chronic illness than for students without chronic illness
Students with chronic illness have diverse school wellbeing experiences

12. EduSwell – Implications
Positive educational practices are important
PEP framework is not a sufficient approach to facilitate school success in students with chronic illness
Must accommodate diverse emotional needs
Prevention/early intervention models may be valuable
Prevention through PEP framework
Early intervention through targeted support, e.g. school psychologist

13. Acknowledgements Behavioural Sciences Unit, Kids Cancer Centre
Assoc. Prof Claire Wakefield
Ms Barb Donnan
Ms Mary Burns
Jo Fardell
Plus many more
Children’s Cancer Institute
Prof Glenn Marshall
Ronald McDonald House Charities
Ms Tracey Webster
Kids’ Cancer Alliance