Prevention Network Ortenaukreis – establishing a communal network of health promotion for children and families

Abstract

Background: Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, the project aims to promote the physical and psychological well-being and social inclusion of children between 3 and 10 years and their families in a German district by a two-track process, based on fundings of health promotion (z.B. Farquhar, 2014; Alexander et.al., 2010): (1) prevention agents are building communal networks of stakeholders from the health, youth welfare and educational system, (2) 18 month long organizational development processes with specially trained coaches in a setting approach with 30 ECEC institutions and 20 primary schools are implemented, based on a adaptive curriculum of prevention and health promotion, as educational institutions are playing a vital role when gaining access to children and their families. Methods: A comprehensive research design to evaluate the different outcomes including (1) qualitative interview data from community prevention agents, stakeholders, and at-risk families, (2) quantitative data on community network development, (3) a multi-level waiting-list control group design with mixed methods in educational institutions. Findings: First analysis from the prevention network and strategy development show substantial new co-operations andmultidisciplinary networks. The waiting-list control group evaluation in ECEC institution show a significantly higher competence level of professionals in the pre-post-analysis (n=122), as well as significant pre-post-effects in the children (n=132) in the treatment group concerning self-concept and resilience. Discussion: The first results show positive effects of the health promotion strategy on the communal and institutional level. As all project components are evaluated, successful implementation factors will be identified and can be transferred.