322 research outputs found
Healthy University â University of Central Lancashire
In 1995, the University of Central Lancashire became one of the first few universities to establish a Healthy University initiative â now one of the longest-running initiatives of its kind worldwide. This case study details the context, provides an overview of
the initiative and uses food as a focus for illustrating how the whole system Healthy University approach has been developed and implemented in practice. It also introduces the UK Healthy Universities Network
National research and development project on healthy universities: final report
This report presents the findings of a National Research and Development Project, undertaken by the Healthy Settings Development Unit at the University of Central Lancashire and funded by the Higher Education Academy Health Sciences and Practice Subject Centre and the Department of Health. The aim of the project was to scope and report on the potential for a national programme on Healthy Universities
that could contribute to health, well-being and sustainable development.
The project comprised four strands:
- Literature Review: A rapid review of relevant academic and policy-related literature conducted in order to clarify theory, scope practice and distil key contextual issues.
- HEI-level Research: Comprising an overview audit and follow-up mapping and consultative research, this strand of the project provided an overview of Healthy University activity across English HEIs, generated in-depth data from a purposive sample of universities and explored perspectives on the potential development of a national programme on Healthy Universities.
- National-Level Stakeholder Research: Using semi-structured interviews with nine key national stakeholder organisations, this strand of the project mapped current health-related roles and responsibilities and explored views regarding the potential development of a national programme on Healthy Universities.
- Joint Action Planning and Reporting: In addition to reporting interim findings at relevant conferences and events, an interactive workshop was held with members
of the English National Healthy Universities Network to present findings, validate data, inform the action planning process and secure further buy-in.
The project highlighted that higher education offers enormous potential to impact positively on the health and well-being of students, staff and the wider community
through education, research, knowledge exchange and institutional practice. It also suggested that investment for health within the sector will further contribute to core
agendas such as staff and student recruitment, experience and retention; and institutional and societal productivity and sustainability.
The research revealed the richness of activity taking place within HEIs and evidenced a rapid increase in interest in the Healthy University approach, pointing to a growing appreciation of the need for a comprehensive whole system approach that can map and understand interrelationships, interactions and synergies within higher education settings â with regard to different groups of the population, different components of the system and different health issues. There is a clear challenge involved in introducing and integrating âhealthâ within a sector that does not have this as its central aim, is characterised by âinitiative overloadâ, is experiencing resource constraints and comprises fiercely autonomous institutions. However, there is also a widening recognition that such a system-based approach has significant added value â offering the potential to address health in a coherent and joined-up way and to forge connections to both health-related targets and core drivers within higher education.
The report concludes that there is clear demand for national-level stakeholder organisations to demonstrate leadership through championing and resourcing a Healthy Universities Programme that not only adds value within the higher education sector, but also helps to build consistency of approach across the entire spectrum of
education. It issues a number of recommendations with a view to responding to the findings and moving forward
Theorizing healthy settings: a critical discussion with reference to Healthy Universities
The settings approach appreciates that health determinants operate in settings of everyday life. Whilst subject to conceptual development, we argue that the approach lacks a clear and coherent theoretical framework to steer policy, practice and research.
Aims: To identify what theories and conceptual models have been used in relation to the implementation and evaluation of Healthy Universities.
Methods: A scoping literature review was undertaken between 2010-2013, identifying 26 papers that met inclusion criteria.
Findings: Seven theoretical perspectives or conceptual frameworks were identified: the Ottawa Charter; a socio-ecological approach (which implicitly drew on sociological theories concerning structure and agency); salutogenesis; systems thinking; whole system change; organisational development; and a framework proposed by Dooris. These were used to address interrelated questions on the nature of a setting, how health is created in a setting, why the settings approach is a useful means of promoting health, and how health promotion can be introduced into and embedded within a setting.
Conclusion: Although distinctive, the example of Healthy Universities drew on common theoretical perspectives that have infused the settings discourse more generally. This engagement with theory was at times well-developed and at other times a passing reference. The paper concludes by pointing to other theories that offer value to healthy settings practice and research and by arguing that theorisation has a key role to play in understanding the complexity of settings and guiding the planning, implementation and evaluation of programmes
Healthy universities: an example of a whole-system health-promoting setting
The health-promoting settings approach is well established in health promotion, with organisational settings being understood as complex systems able to support human wellbeing and flourishing. Despite the reach and evident importance of higher education as a sector, âhealthy universitiesâ has not received high-level international leadership comparable to many other settings programmes. This study explores how the concept of a healthy university is operationalised in two case study universities. Data collection methods included documentary analysis, observation field notes and semi-structured interviews with staff and students. Staff and students understood the characteristics of a healthy university to pertain to management processes relating to communication and to a respectful organisational ethos. Enhancers of health and wellbeing were feeling valued, being listened to, having skilled and supportive line managers and having a positive physical environment.
Inhibitors of health and wellbeing were having a sense of powerlessness and a lack of care and concern. The concept of the healthy university has been slow to be adopted in contrast to initiatives such as healthy schools. In addition to challenges relating to lack of theorisation, paucity of evidence and difficulties in capturing the added value of whole-system working, this study suggests that this may be due to both their complex organisational structure and the diverse goals of higher education, which do not automatically privilege health and wellbeing. It also points to the need for a wholeuniversity approach that pays attention to the complex interactions and interconnections between component parts and highlights how the organisation can function effectively as a social system
International perspectives on healthy settings: critical reflections, innovations and new directions
Healthy Universities: Concept, Model and Framework for Applying the Healthy Settings Approach within Higher Education in England
As part of a Department of Health funded project, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) â working with Manchester Metropolitan University â was commissioned by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), to:
- articulate a model for Healthy Universities whereby the healthy settings approach is applied within the higher education sector
- produce recommendations for the development and operationalisation of a National Healthy Universities Framework for England
- to ensure effective co-ordination of initiatives and propose next steps for progressing the Healthy Universities agenda.
In fulfilment of these objectives, this report provides a background to Healthy Universities, outlines the project implementation process, presents a model, discusses the key dimensions for consideration in formulating a framework, and makes recommendations for taking things forward
Expert voices for change: Bridging the silosâtowards healthy and sustainable settings for the 21st century
The settings approach to health promotion, first advocated in the 1986 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, was introduced as an expression of the ânew public healthâ, generating both acclaim and critical discourse. Reflecting an ecological model, a systems perspective and whole system thinking, the approach has been applied in a wide range of geographical and organisational contexts. This paper reports on a qualitative study undertaken through in-depth interviews with key individuals widely acknowledged to have been the architects and pilots of the settings movement. Exploring the development of the settings approach, policy and practice integration, and connectedness âoutwardsâ, âupwardsâ and âbeyond healthâ, it concludes that the settings approach has much to offerâbut will only realise its potential impact on the wellbeing of people, places and the planet if it builds bridges between silos and reconfigures itself for the globalised 21st century
Predicting Whole Forest Structure, Primary Productivity, and Biomass Density From Maximum Tree Size and Resource Limitations
In the face of uncertain biological response to climate change and the many
critiques concerning model complexity it is increasingly important to develop
predictive mechanistic frameworks that capture the dominant features of
ecological communities and their dependencies on environmental factors. This is
particularly important for critical global processes such as biomass changes,
carbon export, and biogenic climate feedback. Past efforts have successfully
understood a broad spectrum of plant and community traits across a range of
biological diversity and body size, including tree size distributions and
maximum tree height, from mechanical, hydrodynamic, and resource constraints.
Recently it was shown that global scaling relationships for net primary
productivity are correlated with local meteorology and the overall biomass
density within a forest. Along with previous efforts, this highlights the
connection between widely observed allometric relationships and predictive
ecology. An emerging goal of ecological theory is to gain maximum predictive
power with the least number of parameters. Here we show that the explicit
dependence of such critical quantities can be systematically predicted knowing
just the size of the largest tree. This is supported by data showing that
forests converge to our predictions as they mature. Since maximum tree size can
be calculated from local meteorology this provides a general framework for
predicting the generic structure of forests from local environmental parameters
thereby addressing a range of critical Earth-system questions.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures, 1 Tabl
Some big challenges for health promotion (including the âconverging crisesâ of environmental degradation and social injustice)
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