Relationships Matter! Social Networks, Advice Seeking, and Comprehensive School Health
By:
Kate Storey PhD RD, Associate Professor SPH, Distinguished Researcher Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, and Centre for Healthy Communities, Healthy School Community Thematic Area Lead
Genevieve Montemurro MSc, Research Coordinator, SIRCLE Lab
December 16, 2021
Complex relationships exist within schools, and these relationships can help to create healthy school communities. Understanding the social relationships that occur in this setting is important for implementation and sustainability of health promoting approaches, such as comprehensive school health (CSH). CSH is an internationally recognized approach that supports students’ educational outcomes (e.g., student learning, academic achievement) while addressing school health. It moves beyond classroom-based and individual health education to an integrated and wholistic model, involving the whole school community. Research has emphasized the essential role of school health champions and administrators (i.e., school principals and superintendents) in supporting school-based health promotion. However, it is known that for CSH to be effective and sustainable, there needs to be shared leadership amongst school staff.
Understanding how school staff members are connected to each other is useful to support the creation of healthy school communities, especially when taking a CSH approach. Key actors (i.e., champions) can be identified in school networks, and having an understanding of the network can be useful to build and strengthen relationships. We examined advice seeking networks of staff within three schools implementing a CSH approach in Alberta using a social network analysis. These schools were part of the school-focused health promotion initiative, APPLE Schools (A Project Promoting healthy Living for Everyone in Schools). We sought to better understand how staff within CSH schools are connected as a whole, and the degree to which staff members give or seek advice (i.e., advice seeking network) related to specific health promotion content areas of physical activity and nutrition. We found that school health champions (e.g., school staff members dedicated to support the creation of healthy school communities) were key sources of physical activity and nutrition advice, playing a vital role in the network. While school health champions were highly central in the networks across all schools, there were several others who were also key advice actors. These included staff in diverse school roles (e.g., accounts clerk, educational assistant, principal, and teacher). These individuals were important advice actors and connected others within the networks who were otherwise disconnected.
These study findings emphasize how social network analysis can be used to examine the role that relationships play, including shared leadership, in CSH implementation. It is well recognized that dedicated school champions are needed to promote the integration of CSH, but that champions need the buy-in and engaged support of school staff for sustainable change. This study highlights the importance of all school staff in CSH related advice-sharing. This includes staff whose typical duties may not include school health but who interact frequently, and broadly, with members of the school community. Nurturing relationships that exist among staff in the school setting, alongside principles of shared leadership, can be a useful tool to support school-based health promotion.
Interested in reading the full study? The article is available through Social Science & Medicine – Population Health.