Schools have a key role to play in promoting healthy wellbeing and in teaching the skills important in protecting against mental illness. However, navigating the array of wellbeing practices, initiatives, and programs with a view to deciding which of these are appropriate in any school setting is a challenge. Although current best practice is to…

Abstract Schools and centres for education are increasingly positioned as playing a vital role in the promotion of young people's mental health and well-being. Drawing on the example of Ireland's reformed Junior Cycle curriculum (ages 12-15), we ask if the curriculum is the best means of nurturing positive mental health and well-being in schools.

The value of embracing a physically active lifestyle has been well documented in recent times. However, despite this knowledge, physical activity levels in many western societies remain worryingly low in both adult and youth populations. Habit formation in youth is a key indicator of engagement in physical activity as an adult; therefore,…

Communication and dietetics departments co-created an assignment to design health campaign materials for a rural South African community that promotes healthy eating habits for pregnant mothers and mothers of young children. The goal of this assignment was twofold. First, we explored the possibility of incorporating a service-learning element into…

Despite the often-crucial roles played by music within theatre-based public health promotion strategies, theoretical explorations regarding music within applied theatre literatures remain largely underdeveloped. This article highlights musicking -- a reconceptualization of music from an object to a participatory act that can profoundly influence…

Purpose: In this study, the authors offer a practice theory framing of school physical activity transition with conceptual and managerial contributions to whole school approaches (WSAs). Design/methodology/approach: Based on a literature overview of the limitations of WSA, ecological and systems theorisation and a practice theory framing of…

This narrative explores outdoor learning for post-secondary students, the myriad health benefits of nature experience, and the importance of engaging with the more-than-human world. Some comparisons are drawn between indoor- and outdoor-based learning, and the affordances the latter offers for place-based wonder, emergent learning, and the…

Otitis media is very common in Aboriginal children in Western Australia and chronic ear disease causes major problems in speech and language development and education. Up until recently, most programmes dealing with the problem of OM have focused on clinical interventions rather than prevention. The Enhanced Prevention Working Group was…

Building a strong and vibrant school community is a vital component of fostering an environment where students thrive academically, emotionally, and socially. The APPLE Schools (appleschools.ca) health promotion project identifies eight essential elements that provide a steady formula for cultivating this environment. Backed by world-class…

The National Health Service (NHS) celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2023. Its founding principles of care for all, free at point of need, funded from general taxation, a source of British pride. However the public has growing concerns about the standard of care and is pessimistic about the future. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP),…

In one form or another, College and University Instructional Physical Activity Programs (C/UIPAP) have been a part of American higher education for 160 years. This essay highlights the history of this evolution, as well as the ongoing need for C/UIPAP. In doing so, it sets the stage for the thematic issue of the "International Journal of…

Over the past 25 years Forest School in the UK has been growing in popularity as part of a wider resurgence of interest in outdoor learning. A key driver behind this recurrence of interest has been a growing concern over the lack of child exposure to outdoor experiences and with the natural world and their ensuing nature-deficit disorder. This…

Student counselling centres are struggling to meet the demand for mental health services, which has intensified in recent years. This challenge calls for innovative ways to address the mental health needs of students. During the COVID-19 pandemic the peer helpers at Emthonjeni Student Wellness at Nelson Mandela University facilitated innovative…

At the rapid rate that language. content, and preferences are changing around topics related to sexual health education, it is no wonder that curriculum in Canada is lagging behind. With a focus on the elementary classroom, this paper analyzes the problems associated with sexual health education in elementary classrooms and also takes a close look…

Health promotion within Aboriginal communities has typically come from a top-down approach with government-funded health research directing the nature in which health information is disseminated. Previous literature has argued for two-way interaction that requires an equivalent bottom-up approach to integrate community beliefs and perceptions.…