In the United States, the prevailing view of health, including the design of the U.S. healthcare system, has historically posited that to improve health one must focus on better understanding what causes poor health or disease. This emphasis on disease reduction or risk prevention, also known as a pathogenic approach to health. This article…

Medical schools have a duty of care to support student wellbeing but there is little guidance on how to translate this mandate into practice. Often schools focus on implementing and reporting individual-level interventions which typically only address one aspect of wellbeing. Conversely, less attention has been paid to holistic school-wide…

Schools are important arenas for mental health promotion initiatives. School nurses have the opportunity and ability to support and promote students' mental health, but their role and practices have been perceived as somewhat unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore school nurses' mental health promotion practices. A total of 12…

This essay argues that embodied pedagogies of emergence are fundamental to facilitating student wellbeing in the classroom. It shows that such classroom approaches require an incorporation of contemplative pedagogies to be truly attuned to presence; likewise contemplative pedagogies require an emergent approach -- particularly the recasting of…

In response to the growing awareness of trauma and its impact on student learning, schools across the country are implementing trauma-sensitive practices. Authors Maia Cucchiara and Mary Beth Hays describe an approach to trauma sensitivity in schools: the creation of restoration rooms, spaces designed to help students (and adults) return to a…

A large body of research shows that physical activity helps school-aged children and adolescents improve their health and academic performance, and many different types of technology can be used to facilitate and promote physical activity within a school community. This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable questionnaire, titled the…

Purpose: This paper explores perspectives on social justice, equity and agency when schools address health, wellbeing and sustainability challenges. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on a literature review of educational research. The analysis is narrative, highlighting how binary conceptions of equity, social justice and agency are…

The release of the 2024 SHAPE America National Health Education Standards provides an updated take on the learning standards used to teach students how to become healthy and well. In this revision, the standards emphasize both individual and collective health and well-being; greater inclusion of strengths, assets, and opportunities to practice and…

Purpose: Adapting the Health Promotion School (HPS) approach to context specifics is acknowledged as being essential for implementation and achieving optimal effectiveness. This study aims to explore implementation variations on seven HPS spectra (such as top-down to bottom-up involvement of stakeholders) on which implementation of the HPS…

Educators and school staff are critical to recognizing and supporting students' mental health, but frequently do not have the training to confidently bring mental health literacy into the classroom or assist students who experience distress. Moreover, few free, easily accessible trainings are available for this audience. Classroom Well-being…

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…

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth 17 broad goals that we should pursue globally to ensure the health of the planet and of humankind. Within each goal, several targets are identified. This article explores the overarching framework of the SDGs as a guide to ensuring human and planetary health. The one goal, Goal #3:…

Susceptibility to peer influence among adolescents is associated with a variety of negative interpersonal and psychosocial outcomes. Although proper sleep is crucial for adolescent development and well-being, no study to date has examined the influence of sleep problems on susceptibility to peer influence. We assess this relationship using two…

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.

Nature-based health interventions (NBHIs) are utilised to treat a range of physical and mental health conditions, and this rapid review sought to describe the breadth of instrumentation utilised to measure the effectiveness of NBHIs on the different domains of health and wellbeing. A total of 14,385 records were extracted from three databases, and…