The importance of a safe climate for human health is recognised by healthcare professionals, who need to be equipped to deliver environmentally sustainable healthcare and promote the health of natural systems on which we depend. The inclusion of climate-health in Australian and New Zealand accredited master-level public health training and medical…

Background: Health promotion programs and interventions are designed to encourage behavioral changes in children, encouraging them to make safe and healthy life choices. This systematic review seeks to examine how social impact is measured in primary school health promotion interventions. Method: A systematic search and review process was used to…

Background: While dietary sources of calcium are important for bone health, the intake of milk and milk products decreases as children get older. A free milk in schools program may mitigate this decrease in milk consumption. We evaluated the Fonterra Milk for schools program (a free milk initiative) by determining changes in children's milk…

In recent years, multinational food and drink corporations and their marketing practices have been blamed for the global childhood obesity 'crisis'. Unsurprisingly, these corporations have been quick to refute these claims and now position themselves as 'part of the solution' to childhood obesity. In this paper, I examine how and why corporations…

Background: Scientific literacy development is widely emphasized as the overarching goal of science education. It encompasses development of understanding of the nature of science as well as knowledge, attitudes, and values that contribute to empowering adolescents to engage with and make evidence-based decisions about socioscientific issues.…

There is a growing call for evaluation capacity building (ECB); although the area currently lacks a rich research base, there are few robust methods and practice through which to define it. The argument in this article is that the impact of evaluation is mediated by program stakeholders' engagement in evaluation activities. This mediation provides…

International work-integrated learning (WIL) is increasingly common in health-related programs in Australian universities. Paramedicine programs are beginning to explore international WIL in line with the globalization of paramedicine as a profession and the national higher education emphasis on outward bound learning experiences. Using…

Evaluation research focusing on educational initiatives that impact on the learning and lives of young people must be challenged to incorporate 'student voice'. In a context of conventional evaluation models of government-led initiatives, student voice is a compelling addition, and challenges the nature of traditional forms of evaluation. It…

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to report the process, findings and implications of a three-year evaluation of integrated health centres (IHCs) established in three secondary schools in Cornwall by the School-Based Integrated Health Centres (SBIHC) partnership. Design/methodology/approach: When the partners had completed the capital works, an…

Increasingly, staff members in community and public health programs and projects are required to undertake evaluation activities. There is, however, limited capacity for, and understanding of, evaluation within this workforce. Building the capability of individual workers and thereby contributing to the overall capacity among the community and…

In the last 20 years the health promoting schools movement has gained momentum internationally. Without strong national leadership and direction its development in New Zealand has been ad hoc and sporadic. However, as the evidence supporting the role of health promoting schools in contributing to students' health and academic outcomes becomes more…

This article introduces a waka tino whakarawea model for evaluating programmes and services for Maori learners. It is based on a set of underlying principles identified in the author's PhD study (Bevan-Brown, 2002). Explanations are provided for eight principles: kaupapa Maori; importance, relevance and beneficence; participation; empowerment,…

We outline the project management tactics that we developed in praxis in order to manage elearning projects and show how our tactics were enhanced through implementing project management techniques from a formal project management methodology. Two key factors have contributed to our project management success. The first is maintaining a clear…

This paper describes the follow-up evaluation of a school-based scalds prevention programme designed to teach children about scalds hazards and encourage safe family practices. It involved two classroom sessions and a homework exercise that targeted five safety practices. The programme was taught to 28 classes in 14 schools in Waitakere City, New…

School improvement initiatives are needed to better meet the needs of underprivileged students, to reduce underachievement and to break a continuing cycle of disadvantage. This article describes part of a school improvement initiative in New Zealand that provided additional funding for school nurse and social worker services in nine secondary…