Objective: To ascertain teachers' articulation and experiences of navigating dilemmas that inhibit and/or enable the fostering of health literacy in primary school settings. Design: Qualitative analysis of teachers' written reflections on introducing health literacy into their school and classroom. Setting: Tasmania, Australia. Method: Eighty-four…

Objective: The ability of schools, school leaders and teachers to promote critical health literacy in teaching and learning is central to the development of health literacy in schools. However, research focusing on teachers and planning for health literacy through health programmes in school is minimal. This paper describes how one school Health…

Objective: School-based prevention interventions informed by the World Health Organization Health Promoting School (HPS) framework aim to improve the health and wellbeing of school-aged children, yet few studies describe factors influencing the successful implementation of this framework in secondary schools. This study sought to explore why and…

While the known health impacts of sedentary lifestyles have focused attention on children's outdoor activity, the development of their physical literacy -- the physiological, social, cultural, cognitive, expressive, and psychological dimensions of their physicality -- is much less in focus. Developing children's physical literacy is embedded in…

Otitis Media (OM) is an important global issue that can have a long-lasting impact on a child's life. There is no easy fix! For a family who has a child with OM, the ramifications can be short term and have minimal consequences, or they can be very complex and involve medical, educational, behavioural and wellbeing issues, and may even be…

Community development research suggests that positive partnerships and connections between groups can result in stronger, more resilient and productive communities. Despite community connections featuring increasingly at a curriculum level in countries such as Australia and New Zealand, research is only beginning to explore the nuanced processes…

Context: Student interest in and national recognition for the value of global education is expanding. Opportunities for interprofessional education (IPE) are a required component of athletic training education and education of other health care professions. Objective: To describe the development of a short-term study abroad IPE course in the…

Hand hygiene is the primary measure in hospitals to reduce the spread of infections, with nurses experiencing the greatest frequency of patient contact. The "5 critical moments" of hand hygiene initiative has been implemented in hospitals across Australia, accompanied by awareness-raising, staff training and auditing. The aim of this…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of an Australian health promoting schools (HPS) project to identify key features of the concept of resilience and how it can be used in a school setting to develop and strengthen protective factors in young people, as a mechanism for improving social functioning and reducing involvement in…

While grappling with their traditional core business of imbuing students with official curricular knowledge, schools have simultaneously, increasing demands to take on health promotion responsibilities. This paper examines the mandated implementation of the Eat Well Be Active (EWBA) Action Plan and its subsidiary "Smart" policies in…

The purpose of this paper is to show how "realist synthesis" methodology (Pawson, 2002) was adapted to review a large sample of community based projects addressing alcohol and drug use problems. Our study drew on a highly varied sample of 127 projects receiving funding from a national non-government organisation in Australia between 2002…

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of smoking amongst university students in Brisbane, Australia and associated risk factors. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional design was used for the study. A sample of 2,414 university students aged 18-30 was examined to estimate the prevalence of tobacco use. Smoking was measured by…

This paper aims to present what is currently known about Indigenous Australians and their engagement in physical activity and to then challenge some of the "taken-for-granted" ways of thinking about promoting or researching physical activity with Indigenous Australians. Major health, education and sport databases, as well as government…

The Internet may be an effective medium for delivering smoking prevention to children. Consider This, an Internet-based program, was hypothesized to reduce expectations concerning smoking and smoking prevalence. Group-randomized pretest-posttest controlled trials were conducted in Australia (n = 2,077) and the United States (n = 1,234) in schools…

Low socio-economic status (SES) has been associated with lower cervical screening rates. Mass media is one known strategy that can increase cervical screening participation. This study sought to determine whether a mass media campaign conducted in Victoria, Australia, in 2005 was effective in encouraging women across all SES groups to screen. Data…