Health Promoting Schools in action: implementation insights from Poland

Background

The Health Promoting School (HPS) approach is widely acknowledged as an effective strategy for enhancing the health and wellbeing of students, teachers, and non-teaching staff, particularly at the interface between schools and their surrounding communities. Despite Poland’s long-standing experience in developing a national HPS Network, empirical evidence regarding the extent and determinants of its implementation remains limited. This study seeks to evaluate the level of health promotion implementation in Polish schools affiliated with the national HPS network and to explore differences by school type, National HPS Certification status, and duration of network membership.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was carried out among health promotion coordinators from Polish schools participating in the HPS network. Implementation was assessed using the HPS Implementation Questionnaire, which captures seven dimensions (e.g., fidelity, adaptation, integration). Group differences were examined using t-tests and one-way ANOVA.

Results

The overall level of HPS implementation was high (M = 3.05, SD = 0.62). The highest mean scores were observed for Integration (M = 3.53, SD = 0.74) and Adaptation (M = 3.40, SD = 0.88), whereas Adherence (M = 2.09, SD = 0.70) and Participant Responsiveness (M = 2.71, SD = 0.84) received the lowest scores. Comparative analyses indicated higher implementation levels across most dimensions in primary schools, schools with a National HPS Certificate, and those with longer membership in the network.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that prolonged involvement in the HPS network and the attainment of formal certification are linked to stronger implementation of school-based health promotion. These results underscore the importance of sustained capacity building, supportive organizational structures, and context-sensitive adaptation in achieving effective and lasting HPS implementation.

Key messages

• Sustained engagement in the Health Promoting School network and certification enhance implementation, highlighting the importance of long-term support, capacity building, and contextual adaptation.

• Implementation is strongest in integration and adaptation but weaker in adherence and engagement, indicating the need to improve consistency and participant responsiveness in schools.