Call for feedback on our model for promoting child health in schools

Our team at the London Alliance for the Co-production of Evidence Synthesis (LACES) have co-produced a model for child health alongside co-researchers with a range of expertise. This model is a type of theory that depicts the factors thought to impact healthy eating, physical activity, and mental health among young people. The model is focused on schools and is designed to support public health decision makers.

We would greatly appreciate you feedback on the model to enhance its accessibility and value. You can access the model here and provide your comments through the link below.

Why did we develop this logic model?

Healthy eating, physical activity, and mental health are complex challenges driven by multiple factors interacting at different levels. An understanding of this complexity is necessary to support public health decision makers in commissioning interventions, and researchers to improve this research. Schools are potentially vital sites for intervening and improving children’s health, and this model helps us to think about which factors may influence a school’s capacity to influence children’s health.

We hope that this model can support the development of holistic public health policies and programmes relating to schools. Although it is likely to be of use to many decision makers, we designed the model with local authority public health teams in mind. The model could help decision makers consider a range of questions including:

• What are the different channels through which policies and programmes can support child health in schools?
• How might the impact of a school health policy or programme vary across children from different backgrounds and with different life experiences?
• What factors might enable or limit the effectiveness of a school health policy or programme?

How did we develop this model?

EPPI Centre researchers and public co-producers with relevant lived/living experience (including parents, teachers, researchers, and young people) previously developed a logic model for child health. We recently worked as a smaller group of co-producers to further refine the model. This smaller co-production team retained a diversity of perspectives – public health researchers, parents, and educational researchers – although we are now seeking more input on this model from a wider group of people.

How you can help!

Now it’s your turn! We’d like your feedback on the model. We want to hear from anyone who could use and/or benefit from the model including local authority public health staff, nutritionists, teachers, and young adults with lived/living experience of issues around healthy eating, physical activity or mental health. We’re particularly interested in the following questions, but any feedback is welcome:

• Which factors are missing?
• Which factors need a better description?
• How holistic is the model?
• How accessible is the model?

Click here to see the model and provide your comments through the link below:

• Please do not include identifying information in your comments
• You must be at least 18 to provide feedback
• Your comments won’t be visible to anyone apart from the research team
• Please contact embeddedresearchers@ucl.ac.uk if you have any questions about the research

Please feedback by November 12.

Click here to provide feedback.

Privacy Notice: The controller for the feedback collected here will be University College London (UCL). Your comments are not being used as research data, but rather as general feedback to improve our logic model. By leaving a comment you are consenting to having your feedback considered by our research team. Your comments will be stored on a secure UCL Teams page for up to ten years. Please contact data-protection@ucl.ac.uk for any questions regarding storage or protection of the feedback.