Examining Statewide Capacity for School Health and Mental Health Promotion: A Post Hoc Application of a District Capacity-Building Framework

摘要

Promoting health among children and adolescents is a priority area for national and state-level health organizations and agencies (Inman, van Bakergem, LaRosa, & Garr, 2011), often with a focus on schools that historically have served as access points to a large number of youth (Weare & Nind, 2011). The role of schools has broadened with the proliferation of literature on the linkages between health and academic success for youth. Chronic health and mental health conditions have been associated with poor academic outcomes, including low school engagement and connectedness (Bond et al., 2007; Vaughn et al., 2011), and the corollary also holds true: The promotion of health in school settings has been associated with positive academic outcomes (Dix, Slee, Lawson, & Keeves, 2012). Comprehensive health promotion approaches that address the triarchic relationship among health, mental health, and academic factors are seen by some educators as a pathway to school improvement (Basch, 2011).