		Communities and Schools Promoting Health A Gateway to information on comprehensive school health (CSH) and health promoting schools (HPS) Providing links to research, reports, how-to manuals, planning & assessment tools, lesson plans and student webquests

Understanding CSH	Applying CSH	Lesson Plans	Student Webquests	School Health Policies	Scans/Inventories/Trends
Home	Français	Feedback	Sponsors		About Us

National Surveys of School, Agency, Ministry Prevention Capacity

	Prevalence, Nature of Substance Abuse Problems in Youth
	Comprehensive Approaches to School-based or School-linked Prevention
	Coordinated School-Agency-Community Programs
	Whole School Strategies
	Agency and School Policies
	Instructional Programs
	Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Services
	Social Support From Parents, Youth and the Community
	Changes to Physical Environment and Practical Resources
	Building Capacity in Schools, Professionals, Agencies, Communities, Governments
	Making Change Happen in Open, Loosely-coupled Bureaucratic Systems

This section will present and discuss the results of two national surveys that report on school, health/addiction clinics, school board, police department, health authority and government ministries' capacities to promote, implement and evaluate evidence-based programs, policies and practices. A 2004 analysis of health and education ministry capacity is included in this section.

Baseline Survey of Local and System Policies, Programs & Practices

Selected members of the Canadian School Health Research Network will guide the development and analysis of a national survey of current policies/programs/practices and system capacity (relative to benchmarks derived from research) to establish a baseline for policies, programs and practices in local education, health, police, and mental health agencies. This study will be similar in nature to the School Health Policies and Programs Study done periodically in the United States and to a 1999 study done for the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada and Health Canada.

Conceptual Basis of Survey

The survey will be based on the evidence that a comprehensive approach integrating substance abuse prevention with other social behaviours and using a systems approach to the whole school environment and its interactions with individual characteristics, parent practices and community norms, that coordinates several policies, programs and services that are delivered through schools is more effective than single or uncoordinated interventions aimed at individual behaviours. It is the critical mass of policies and programs, suitable in intent and to the local context, that can make a difference. For a preleminary review of the evidence, see the bibliography of selected references below. The survey will determine if a comprehensive, evidence-based approach is being used in school-based and school-linked health promotion. The elements of that approach should include:

School and agency policies/professional practice guidelines
Plans, programs, steps taken to support coordination/capacity building across the province/territory
School-community programs
Whole school programs
Instructional programs (including curriculum design, supports for teaching and evidence-base for programs being used)
Specific prevention programs as well as specific youth development programs such as Lions Quest,
Parent education/involvement programs
Student assistance programs
Partnerships with mental health agencies
Peer helper programs
Youth engagement programs
Comprehensive or specific guidance counselling programs
Procedures and services for treatment and after-care programs
School discipline policies
School-police protocols and programs
Partnership programs with community agencies
Alternatives to suspension programs

This survey will also describe the capacity of systems (at all levels) to sustain substance abuse prevention programs in areas such as:

Policy coordination and leadership
Staff support for coordination and cooperation
Formal and informal mechanisms for cooperation
knowledge transfer and exchange
Work force development (pre and in-service)
Surveillance and monitoring
Strategic issue management
Explicit planning for sustainability

The report from this study will form a baseline of system capacity and current practices in substance abuse prevention. This baseline data will be used to determine if the CIF-funded project, School-based and School-linked Prevention of Problematic Substance Use: Developing & Disseminating Evidenced-based Guidelines and Knowledge, has had an impact at the local agency level.

The survey will be administered at the local school/neighbourhood, school district/agency, provincial/territorial and national levels. Provinces/territories will be able to extend the sample size to provide a reliable PT survey result at their discretion but no provincial/territorial reports will be prepared. However, that national sample will be provide reliable baseline data for schools in specific contexts that affect program delivery, including low-income communities, aboriginal communities, rural communities, suburban communities, inner city communities and separate schools.

This survey will produce a national level report that provides a closer look at the policies, programs and practices that are underway in Canada at the four levels. The findings will be presented in a manner that reflects the contextual variances of schools (e.g. rural, urban, inner-city, Aboriginal, etc.) The final report will not present the findings on a jurisdictional basis however provincial/territorial data will be available for provinces/territories to access as requested.