Abstract
Background: Health promoting schools (HPS) project
is currently being used in Iran but many challenges still lie ahead. The
present study aimed, to test feasibility of implementing a comprehensive
advocacy program (CAP) to overcome the obstacles and problems associated with
the consummation of school health programs based on the HPS framework.
Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed through
recruiting all schools that were enrolled in the national HPS program and
located in Jolfa as the intervention group and all of the schools situated in
the East Azerbaijan province as control. In order to collect data, Iranian
Ministry of Health’s checklists and external audit guidelines for HPS were
utilized. In addition, to plan a CAP required data for coordinating fund
raising activities including current rules and regulations regarding implementation
of local health promotion interventions were collected.
Results: Findings of the study revealed that the implemented CAP
had improved all HPS dimensions’ mean score in the intervention group. The
observed change in the pre- and post-test score in the intervention group was
significant (P < 0.05). The intervention was also successful in
encouraging signing of an agreement among the participated organizations to be
committed to pursue the adopted policies in facilitation of progress towards
full implementation of the local HPS project.
Conclusion: Commencing
changes in the recruited schools’ structure through coordinated multi-level
activities is feasible and this must be considered as a priority where
contextual determinants exist to motivate progress towards providing healthier
educational settings for school aged children in Iran.