Building resilience through school-based health promotion: a systematic review

Abstract

This article draws together the evidence through a systematic review of the literature regarding the effectiveness of a health-promoting school (HPS) approach to building resilience. The electronic databases searched included the following: CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Health Reference Center, Informit Search, MEDLINE, ProQuest, PsycINFO, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Social Services Abstracts and Web of Science. The study finds that the effectiveness of programmes to enhance resilience among school staff and students and the impact on parents needs more consideration. Although insufficient information was given to comment on costs, a certain amount of financial investment was considered to be important for success. This study indicates that continued investment in research in this area is needed. Also, ongoing long-term evaluation (both process and outcome) is necessary to provide evidence about the effectiveness of using the HPS approach to promote resilience.

Keywords:

• systematic review
• health-promoting schools
• health promotion
• resilience