Children as visionary change agents in Danish school health promotion

TY - JOUR

T1 - Children as visionary change agents in Danish school health promotion

AU - Clausen, Laura Tolnov

AU - Schmidt, Carina

AU - Aagaard-Hansen, Jens

AU - Reinbach, Helene Christine

AU - Toft, Ulla

AU - Bloch, Paul

PY - 2019/10/1

Y1 - 2019/10/1

N2 - This paper describes children's perceptions and visions for a healthier social and physical environment in the setting of a primary school on the Danish island of Bornholm. Guided by an everyday-life perspective and applying participatory action research methods including social imagination and visual techniques within the framework of future creating workshops, the study engaged 50 children aged 6-9 years in creative processes of identifying health-related problem areas and solutions in their school setting. The study observed that the children were very capable of articulating their thoughts, ideas and visions for a better and healthier school environment. Identified problem areas and solutions differed widely and represented a broad perspective of health including social, physical, environmental and emotional aspects. The paper discusses advantages and challenges of involving children in decision-making processes and concludes that children are visionary and creative agents of change in health promotion projects provided that applied participatory methods are appealing to the children.

AB - This paper describes children's perceptions and visions for a healthier social and physical environment in the setting of a primary school on the Danish island of Bornholm. Guided by an everyday-life perspective and applying participatory action research methods including social imagination and visual techniques within the framework of future creating workshops, the study engaged 50 children aged 6-9 years in creative processes of identifying health-related problem areas and solutions in their school setting. The study observed that the children were very capable of articulating their thoughts, ideas and visions for a better and healthier school environment. Identified problem areas and solutions differed widely and represented a broad perspective of health including social, physical, environmental and emotional aspects. The paper discusses advantages and challenges of involving children in decision-making processes and concludes that children are visionary and creative agents of change in health promotion projects provided that applied participatory methods are appealing to the children.

U2 - 10.1093/heapro/day049

DO - 10.1093/heapro/day049

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 30124857

SN - 0957-4824

SP - 1

EP - 10

JO - Health Promotion International

JF - Health Promotion International

ER -