Health literacy in school-based health programmes: A case study in one Australian school

Objective: The ability of schools, school leaders and teachers to promote critical health literacy in teaching and learning is central to the development of health literacy in schools. However, research focusing on teachers and planning for health literacy through health programmes in school is minimal. This paper describes how one school Health and Physical Education (HPE) department planned for and implemented health literacy learning across Years 7-10 as part of the first-year delivery of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education in New South Wales, Australia. Design: Single setting case study. Setting: A Years 7-10 Catholic school for boys. The HPE department comprised five teachers and one head of department. Method: Thirty-four lessons and 61 learning activities were analysed using Nutbeam's health literacy hierarchy and the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education outcomes and content. Results: A large number of learning activities were categorised as interactive (n = 37, 60.7%) and a smaller number of learning activities categorised as critical (n = 16, 26.2%). The number of learning activities categorised as functional was the smallest (n = 5, 8.1%). Conclusion: Findings suggest that school-based health programmes that lack a connection to a whole school approach may fail to provide opportunities for students to achieve the critical understandings of health literacy that will provide them with the capability to enhance the health of others.