Explo’Santé: An Interventional Research Project in Population Health.

Emily Darlington.

Leader
Call for Projects: Research in Prevention from the National League Against Cancer
Funding Amount: €1.4 million
2022-2025

According to the WHO, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) cause 41 million deaths annually, making them the leading cause of mortality worldwide. The WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020 (extended) addresses this issue and its implications in terms of inequalities between countries and populations. Based on combined behavioural, environmental, and policy approaches, health promotion aims to reduce health inequalities and address the determinants of health through three strategies: education, prevention, and protection. Research shows that working with children is essential to enhance the effectiveness of health promotion initiatives. As a focal point in communities and a key environment for children, schools are vital places to implement health promotion programmess, particularly integrated approaches and interventions targeting life skills (LS).

Explo’Santé is an interventional research project focused on health promotion in schools. It is a three-year program aimed at primary school students aged 8 to 10. The programme includes health education sessions to develop students’ life skills and health literacy, and the promotion of healthy environments. Teachers and prevention officers from the League against Cancer are trained to support skill development and programme sustainability. The mixed-methods research design aims to evaluate the effects of this complex health promotion programme, clarify its implementation process, and identify contextual factors.

Explo’Santé has been designed to contribute towards health promotion strategies in schools by including key stakeholders, promoting partnerships, targeting multiple levels of impact and effect, and ensuring that each step is research-based and informed. Finally, this study aims to identify the elements that could enable Explo’Santé to become a model in France and internationally.

In partnership with the League Against Cancer https://www.ligue-cancer.net/