HEALTH+ is the school health program which is  defined as "the school procedures that contribute to the maintenance and improvement of the health of pupils and school personnel including health services healthful living and health education".

There is lack of well defined School Health Programme incidentally the teaching about health is done while treating other subjects of the curriculum -such as physiology, hygiene and biology. The approach to these subjects is so academic that they are considered to be important from the 'examination point of view' and have very little effect on actual health practices and attitudes. But in general, school health education should be integrated with all the activities in the curriculum. It should be a part and parcel of the child’s daily life. It must include the whole life of the child taking in to consideration his relationship with the school community as well as the community outside the school.

Childhood is the age of learning and it is the time when a child start developing practices and attitude towards health. It is very important to target the children for oral health awareness and demonstration of correct methods for oral hygiene.

School is considered as place for learning where children learn not only subjective knowledge but also life style practices and health seeking behaviors.It has been proven that schools can provide an ideal platform for the promotion of oral health. At the global level, approximately 80% of children attend primary schools and 60% complete at least four years of education, with wide variation between countries and gender. They can be nurtured well for their general and oral health and can very well be implemented effectively.

​

Health Promoting School – Vision

• A health promoting school:

• Fosters health and learning with all the measures at its disposal.

• Engages health and education officials, teachers, teachers’ unions, students, parents, health providers and community leaders in efforts to make the school a healthy place.

• Strives to provide a healthy environment, school health education, and school health services along with school/community projects and outreach, health promotion programmes for staff, nutrition and food safety programmes, opportunities for physical education and recreation, and programmes for counselling, social support and mental health promotion.

• Implements policies and practices that respect an individual’s well being and dignity, provide multiple opportunities for success, and acknowledge good efforts and intentions as well as personal achievements.

• Strives to improve the health of school personnel, families and community members as well as pupils; and works with community leaders to help them understand how the community contributes to, or undermines, health and education.

​

Health Promoting Schools Focus on

• Caring for oneself and others.

• Making healthy decisions and taking control over life’s circumstances.

• Creating conditions that are conducive to health (through policies, services, physical/social conditions).

• Building capacities for peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable ecosystem, equity, social justice, sustainable development.

• Preventing leading causes of death, disease and disability: helminths, tobacco use, HIV/AIDS/STDs, sedentary lifestyle, drugs and alcohol, violence and injuries, unhealthy nutrition.

• Influencing health-related behaviors: knowledge, beliefs, skills, attitudes, values, support.

​

Objectives of School Health Education 

• The promotion of positive health

• The prevention of diseases

• Early diagnosis, treatment and follow up of defects

• Awakening health consciousness in children

​

However, the objectives of school health service can be achieved through a comprehensive School Health Programme comprising the following activities:

• Health appraisal of school children and school personnel;

• Co-operation with the home and the community;

• Healthful school environment;

• Prevention of communicable diseases;

• Nutritional services;

• First aid and emergency care;

• Psychological services;

• Use of school health records;

• Remedial measures and follow up;

• Health instruction;

​

AREA OF CONCERN

School Health Appraisal

• The School Health Appraisal should cover not only the students but also the teachers and other school personnel. Health appraisal consists of periodic medical examinations and observation of children by the class teacher.

• So one of the most important means of taking care of the physical well being of the school children is through systematic medical inspection of schools.

• Generally it is seen that most of the students in the school suffer from many preventable diseases such as defective teeth, bad sight, deafness, anaemia etc. but such diseases adversely affect the learning capacity of the students and cause ill health.

• Medical Check-up is only the initial step in a great scheme of progress which involves the improvement of not only the physical but the mental and moral development of the children. Although the system of school medical Check-up has been in existence for a number of years, yet the outcome of the result have not been satisfactory for the following reasons as pointed out by Secondary Education commission.

• The medical inspection has been done in a perfunctory manner;

• The defects that have been brought out even by this type of examination have not been remedied because the remedial measures suggested are often not carried out;

• There is no follow-up, even in the case of those who have been declared as defective;</p>

• Effective co-operation has not been established between the school authorities and the parents, either due to ignorance or due to lack of financial resources or reports of the school medical officers. Unless and until the present system is improved considerably, it would be a mere waste of time and money to continue this type of medical inspection in the urban areas in most schools there is provision for medical inspection of students. But in rural areas no such provision is available for students. In Western countries, the medical Check-up of children is a regular feature of the school.

 

However for making the medical inspection meaningful the following factors should be taken in to account:

• A thorough medical examination of all pupils and necessary follow-up and treatment where necessary, should be carried out in all schools;

• Pupils with serious defects and those who suffer from severe illness should be examined more frequently;

• Medical examination should be given to teachers and other school personnel as they form a part of the environment to which the child is exposed;

• The teacher is in a unique position to carry out the ‘daily inspection’ as he is familiar with the children and can detect changes in the child appearance or behavior that suggest illness or improper growth or development;

• The systematic medical examination which has been described above should be supplemented by daily inspection. This inspection must be made especially on the child’s entry in the school premises in the morning and any lapse from the normal should be noted and endeavour should be made to have these corrected. The inspection suggested here can be made in a few moments, while the pupils assemble in the’ morning and in the same manner matters pertaining to cleanliness and neatness may also be noticed.

                         
Adolescence is a period of transition with significant physical, psychological and social development. In addition, adolescents today are facing various challenges brought about by changes in the society. Inability to cope with the changes would have a direct impact on adolescents' psychosocial health and the development of interpersonal relationships. Besides, it would also increase the risk of taking part in health-comprising behaviours like smoking, drinking, substance abuse, casual sex, deliberate self-harm, suicide, etc.
To empower our adolescents to face the challenges of growing up, Planet- V, Maestro Multiversity launched the Adolescent Health Programme (AHP) in 2009. The programme is to provide quality health promotion services for our adolescents using a multi-disciplinary team approach. It is an outreaching service for secondary schools implemented by our professional staff including doctors, nurses, dieticians, social workers and clinical psychologists.

Service Development
Since the launching of the AHP, the programme has been receiving good support and response.  The results showed that students who participated in the programme performed better than those who did not in terms of health knowledge, attitudes, psychosocial health status and behaviours. The Department of Health will continue this programme and the revision of "Basic Life Skills Training" programme had been completed to meet the needs of adolescents. 

Programme Objectives

• Programmes for students focus on promoting their psychosocial health like self-understanding and acceptance, emotion and stress management as well as harmonious interpersonal and problem-solving skills.

• Programmes for parents and teachers aim at improving their understanding of adolescents' psychosocial health and equipping them with the appropriate skills to assist adolescents throughout their development.