A number of national organizations, researchers, government officials and others are working together to develop an informal international network of that would share information and promote collaboration to support the health, learning and social development of young people through effective school-based and school-linked programs, policies and practices.


We all support comprehensive approaches that address the needs of the whole child through coordinated school health programs delivered by health, education and other systems to create sustainable health-promoting schools. Based on our work within our own countries, we share common beliefs and values such as optimal health and health literacy for all, empowering young people, involving parents and developing community capacity. Collectively, at the international level, we share a common interest in:

• enabling organizations, governments and professions, particularly those in developing countries and communities, to strengthen their capacity to promote health through schools
• identifying, developing and sharing evidence on effective and sustainable school health interventions
• encouraging the sharing of knowledge and skills relating to school health promotion
• anticipating future demographic, economic, social and technological trends that will affect schooling and the health of children and youth.

1. Promote exchanges of information and dialogue by:
   
   
   • creating and maintaining a blog on international school health (See www.schoolhealthinsider.wetpaint.com)
   • organizing SH sessions and satellite conferences in conjunction with IUHPE Conferences (e.g. IUHPE 2004, 2007)
   • periodically hosting online discussions of items of shared interest that would benefit from international perspectives
   
   
2. Develop a research agenda and identify potential projects or topics that would benefit from international collaboration by:
   
   
   • Developing a research agenda in cooperation
   • posting recent literature reviews and meta-analyses on a website
   • seeking the means to facilitate multilingual knowledge exchange
   • creating a sub-committee of researchers and research agencies interested in international research activities
   
   
3. Develop means to promote development and training capacity, models and materials
   
   
   • finding non- electronic means to communicate with developing countries and communities
   • strengthening existing regional school health networks and linking with networks that are focused on specific health issues regarding school health
   
   
4. Inform policy development and policy-makers about the evidence on effectiveness, benefits and lessons learned/promising practices in school health promotion
   
   
   • collating and maintaining a list of key studies and landmark reports
   • collating and disseminating information on national and state/provincial policy and major program initiatives
   • communicating with international education, health and other stakeholder organizations as well as international agencies that can support school health promotion
   • examining the evidence of effectiveness, cost-benefits and other matters of specific interest to policy-makers
   
   

The individuals and organizations that created the network thought that the ISHN should:

• include national school health and public health organizations, government officials, researchers and other networks who work at the national and international level that are concerned with specific health and social issues
• be a loose, informal, voluntary network
• have a steering committee representing world regions and diversity
• be linked to WHO, World Bank, OECD, and interested agencies such as UNESCO and IUHPE, as well as non-governmental organizations and networks, and health & education ministries

This summary presents some of the ideas developed in informal discussions at several international meetings and conferences. If you know someone who works in school health promotion at the national or international level who might be interested, please pass this along. For more information, contact:

Doug McCall, Executive Director
Canadian Association for School Health
Interim Coordinator, International School Health Network
Tel: 250.483.6988
dmccall@cash-aces.ca