What is Coordinated School Health?
Reversing the obesity epidemic requires a long-term, well-coordinated approach to reach young people where they live, learn, and play, and schools have an important role. Coordinated School Health provides a framework to organize school health efforts around eight health-related components and staff: school nutrition services; physical education; school health services; school health education; counseling, psychological and social services; healthy school environment; family and community involvement; and health promotion for staff.
Coordinated School Health Teams are formed with members representing the eight CSH components. The Coordinated School Health model encourages school teams to improve specific areas of school health while expanding collaboration among the people responsible for them in the school and in the community. Active coordination is needed to engage school staff, implement district/school priority actions; assess programs and policies; create a plan based on data, sound science, and analysis of gaps and redundancies in school health programming; establish goals; and evaluate efforts. A well-coordinated school health program results in an organized set of courses, services, policies, and interventions that meet the health and safety needs of all students from kindergarten through grade 12.
The broader benefits of Coordinated School Health align with the missions of schools to enable students to learn and to provide them with the knowledge, skills and judgment to make healthy choices in life. According to the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers, schools with Coordinated School Health programs have associated benefits for:
- Reduced school absenteeism
- Fewer behavior problems in the classroom
- Improved student performance
- Cooperation among parents, teachers, health officials and community organizations
- Positive attitudes among educators and their students
- Broader awareness of health
- Preparation of students to be healthy members of their communities
To support the implementation of the Coordinated School Health Model,
Colorado has developed the Roadmap to Healthy Schools. Colorado’s Roadmap
to Healthy Schools is a step-by-step guide for implementing Coordinated
School Health. The Roadmap includes resources and tools for
planning, documenting team processes, evaluating progress, and describing
and sharing success.
Since 2006, school-level grants have been awarded for planning or implementation
of CSH programs. Funding for this effort came from:
- RMC – K-12 Tobacco Prevention Initiative
- RMC – Unrestricted funds
- The Colorado Department of Education
- The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) – State Tobacco Education and Prevention Partnership
- CDPHE – Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition Program (COPAN)
- DPHE – Maternal and Child Health
- Kaiser Permanente
- The Colorado Health Foundation
