Pilot evaluation of a school-based health education intervention in the UK: Facts4Life

Background This study assessed short-term changes in children's health and illness attitudes and health status following Facts4Life, a school-based health education intervention. Methods Children aged 7-11 years ( School Years 3-6) recruited from 10 schools in the UK participated in this study. A quasi-experimental design was utilized with 187 children participating in the intervention, and 108 forming a control condition. Children in both conditions completed measures of health and illness attitudes and health status at baseline and at immediate follow-up. Intervention effects were examined using mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance. Results Analysis revealed significant baseline to follow-up improvements in intervention group responses to 'When I feel unwell I need to take medicine to feel better' ( Years 3 and 4: P = 0.05, eta(2)p = 0.02; Years 5 and 6: P = 0.004, eta(2)p = 0.07). For intervention group children in Years 5 and 6 there was an improvement in response to 'When I am ill, I always need to see a doctor' ( P = 0.01, eta(2)p = 0.07). There was no evidence that Facts4Life had an impact upon health status. Conclusions This study identified some positive intervention effects and results suggest that Facts4Life has potential as a school-based health education intervention.