Adolescents Learning Health Promotion: Pupils' Evaluation of Contacts with the School Health Nurse

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the associations between learning health promotion from the health dialogue and sociodemographic and psycho-social variables. The theoretical framework is based on empowerment and health promotion and on experiential learning theory. The study is the Danish contribution to the WHO-collaborative study Health Behaviour in Schoolchildren. In 1991, a nationwide random sample of pupils 11, 13, 15-year-olds (n=1860) answered a standardised questionnaire about perceived health, health behaviour, social situation as well as the health dialogue with the school health nurse. Pupils from lower social classes reported a high proportion of learning health promotion. Among the study population, 31% had learned health promotion, mostly the 11-year-old pupils, and more girls than boys. Learning health promotion was associated with school satisfaction, unhappiness, nervousness, tiredness, physical exercise, puberty-related issues, headache and backache. Weekly recurring needs predicted the highest proportion of learning health promotion. Headache was the main reason for spontaneous contact. The second reason was problems with social relations. Pupils who were inclined to spontaneous visits had a positive attitude to school. Age, school satisfaction and headaches may be essential predictors of learning health promotion. Three steps in a learning spiral were applied: concrete experience (CE), reflective observation (RO), abstract conceptualization (AC).