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Home » Advancing knowledge in the use of health and wellbeing data and evidence: A package of training for Healthy Schools Co-ordinators (ADEPT – HSC) 

Advancing knowledge in the use of health and wellbeing data and evidence: A package of training for Healthy Schools Co-ordinators (ADEPT – HSC) 

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Principal Investigator

Dr Sara Long

Co-Investigators

Dr Rachel Brown, Dr Nick Page, Dr Hayley Reed, Prof Simon Murphy, Prof Graham Moore

Background

Health and wellbeing is one of the six Areas of Learning and Experience (AoLE) in the new Curriculum for Wales. The influences of learners’ health and wellbeing vary according to location and age group and schools are expected to take this into consideration when designing their own curriculum. However they don’t necessarily have the expertise or tools to source and utilise the data available to them, as it has not been a part of their training so far. ADEPT-HSC aims to address this gap.

The development of the course is underpinned by several factors, including a review of the Welsh Network of Healthy Schools Scheme, emerging evidence for Curriculum for Wales and a Whole School Approach to Emotional and Mental Wellbeing, and School Health Research Network developments. 

Aims and Objectives

The overall aim of the course is to enhance the knowledge and skillset of Healthy Schools Co-ordinators (HSCs) in supporting schools in the use, and understanding of, data and evidence. 

The three main objectives for ADEPT-HSC:

  1. Further understanding of, and optimise the use of, School Health Research Network (SHRN) data, and to raise awareness of other sources of data. 
  1. Enhance knowledge and skills in embedding whole school approaches within school settings, including: 
    • understanding and contextualising data to inform needs assessment, priority setting, action planning and evaluation with schools; 
    • critical appraisal of evidence; 
    • Contextualising evidence into practice, with examples and guiding principles (including an overview of multicomponent interventions, such as Whole School Approach (WXSA) interventions vs single component interventions)
    • Evaluating, selecting, and adapting interventions for contexts, including practice in the absence of evidence; 
    • Understanding and operating within complex systems; 
  1. Provide the opportunity to apply the above tools to practice examples; responding to emerging needs. 

Course Design

The course is framed around four key principles that serve to enhance knowledge, skills, and inform ways of working beyond the course.

  • Firstly, practitioners are asked to think about how a ‘problem’ is identified, and how something is determined as a health need.
  • The subsequent session focuses on mapping a health need and understanding the parameters of it, and causal pathways.
  • The third session focuses on how one might begin to address a health need within the context of a whole school approach, providing a brief overview of how to appraise evidence and the evidence pyramid, what to do when there is a lack of evidence, and how practitioners can contribute to research, monitoring and evaluation.

The final session focuses on implementing interventions within settings and co-constructing action with schools.

Start date

January 2022

End date

December 2024

Funders

Public Health Wales

Amount

£25,000

Further information

Blog: Supporting educationalists to become more adept in the use of health and wellbeing data – DECIPHer