Reach of a capacity-building training based on the Health-Promoting Schools framework among school actors from a large municipality in Brazil
1
Health Sciences Center, Ceara State University, Fortaleza, Brazil
2
Education Department, Federal Institute of Education, Science, and Technology of Ceara, Acaraú, Brazil
3
Sports Center, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Capacity-building training for school actors is a core strategy of the World Health Organization’s Health-Promoting Schools (HPS-WHO) framework. The aim was to describe the reach and certification rates after one year of implementation of an HPS-WHO-based training course for school actors from a large Brazilian municipality.
METHODS:
This implementation study was conducted in Fortaleza, Northeast Brazil, a city with 2.4 million inhabitants and 648 municipal public schools. Participants were school actors (teachers, managers, staff, and health professionals) residing in Fortaleza and registered on the ProMOVE Escolas + Saudáveis website, an HPS-WHO framework-grounded program¹. A content-validated, self-instructional, 40-hour online course was offered from April to November 2025. The learning management system comprised three modules and eleven units covering health promotion legislation, HPS-WHO standards, and practical possibilities. Course initiation and certification (yes/no outcomes) were automatically recorded. Chi-square test compared proportions across groups. Logistic regression models estimated odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), using teachers as the reference category. A p-value<0.05 was adopted.
RESULTS:
A total of 1,072 participants registered, and 400 (37.3%) enrolled in the course; 54.2% were teachers, 17.5% staff, 16.0% health professionals, and 12.3% managers. They were from all six administrative areas of the city. Overall, 140 participants (35.5%) initiated the course activities, and 79 (19.8%) completed the course certification. No differences were observed between groups for initiation (χ²=3.28; p=0.35) or certification (χ²=7.21; p=0.06). Health professionals showed lower odds of certification compared with teachers (OR=0.34; 95% CI: 0.14–0.85; p=0.02).
CONCLUSIONS:
Despite enrolling diverse school actors and city areas, strengthening dissemination strategies and recognition of continuing training, especially for school health professionals, may improve the scalability of HPS-WHO interventions.
Capacity-building training for school actors is a core strategy of the World Health Organization’s Health-Promoting Schools (HPS-WHO) framework. The aim was to describe the reach and certification rates after one year of implementation of an HPS-WHO-based training course for school actors from a large Brazilian municipality.
METHODS:
This implementation study was conducted in Fortaleza, Northeast Brazil, a city with 2.4 million inhabitants and 648 municipal public schools. Participants were school actors (teachers, managers, staff, and health professionals) residing in Fortaleza and registered on the ProMOVE Escolas + Saudáveis website, an HPS-WHO framework-grounded program¹. A content-validated, self-instructional, 40-hour online course was offered from April to November 2025. The learning management system comprised three modules and eleven units covering health promotion legislation, HPS-WHO standards, and practical possibilities. Course initiation and certification (yes/no outcomes) were automatically recorded. Chi-square test compared proportions across groups. Logistic regression models estimated odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), using teachers as the reference category. A p-value<0.05 was adopted.
RESULTS:
A total of 1,072 participants registered, and 400 (37.3%) enrolled in the course; 54.2% were teachers, 17.5% staff, 16.0% health professionals, and 12.3% managers. They were from all six administrative areas of the city. Overall, 140 participants (35.5%) initiated the course activities, and 79 (19.8%) completed the course certification. No differences were observed between groups for initiation (χ²=3.28; p=0.35) or certification (χ²=7.21; p=0.06). Health professionals showed lower odds of certification compared with teachers (OR=0.34; 95% CI: 0.14–0.85; p=0.02).
CONCLUSIONS:
Despite enrolling diverse school actors and city areas, strengthening dissemination strategies and recognition of continuing training, especially for school health professionals, may improve the scalability of HPS-WHO interventions.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
