There is a statistically significant relationship between health and academic achievement. Research evidence shows that children who are healthy are at a low risk for school problems than students who are unhealthy. Students with good health tend to perform better in school than those with poor health. Problems that emanate from poor health include a higher probability of school failure, poor levels of concentration, grade retention and dropout. However, health is a complex and elusive concept and its definition is often shrouded by assumptions and limitations. Therefore, the relationship between health and student achievement is often complex. The concept of health has been evolving over time, cutting across multiple disciplines. Of late, there has been a focus on achieving not only health but total well-being. Schools have been challenged to promote student health by providing favourable environments, policies, support services and information-based interventions. Schools should develop integrated health interventions because of their proven effectiveness in promoting healthy lifestyles among students. This chapter critically examines the concept of health and establishes the connection between health and achievement. The chapter also proposes health interventions that are effective in influencing academic achievement.
Purpose-The paper examines levels of health research evidence in health policies in Malawi. Design/Methodology/Approach-The study selected a typology of health policies in Malawi from 2002 to 2017. The study adopted the SPIRIT conceptual framework and assessed the levels of research evidence in health policy, systems and services research using the revised SAGE policy assessment tool. Documentary analysis was used to assess levels of health research evidence in health policies in Malawi. Findings-In 29 (96.7%) of the health policies, policy formulators including healthcare directors and managers used generic search engines such as Google or Google Scholar to look for heath research evidence. In 28 (93.3%) of the health policies they searched for grey literature and other government documents. In only 6 (20%) of the heath policy documents, they used academic literature in a form of journal articles and randomised controlled trials. No systematic reviews or policy briefs were consulted. Overall, in 23 (76.7%) of the health policy documents research evidence played a minimal role and had very little influence on the policy documents. Research limitations/implications-The empirical evidence in the health policy documents are limited due to insufficient research citation, low retrievability of health research evidence in the policy documents and biased selectivity of what constitutes health research evidence. Practical implications-The paper indicates that unfiltered information (data from policy evaluations and registries) constitutes majority of the research evidence in health policies both in health policy, systems and services research. The paper seeks to advocate for the use of filtered information (peer reviewed, clinical trials and data from systematic reviews) in formulating health policies. Originality/value-There is dearth of literature on the levels of health research evidence in health policy-making both in health policy, systems and services research. This study seeks to bridge the gap with empirical evidence from a developing country perspective.
University students in Zimbabwe lack immediate access to accurate health information. There is lack of explicit and integrated structures for disseminating health information to students in Zimbabwe. Informed by the salutogenic theory of health, the study assessed the health information needs of students and evaluated existing health information dissemination methods at National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Zimbabwe, in developing a framework for disseminating health information. A case study strategy was used to gather data within the pragmatic paradigm of grounded constructivism. The findings reveal that students need health information on a wide range of health topics and prefer mobile electronic media, workshops, qualified health professionals and peers for their health needs. There are significant gaps between the strategies that are being used by NUST to disseminate health information and the health information needs of the students. Therefore, this paper proposes a needs-based, integrated information dissemination framework for promoting health amongst students. The proposed framework emphasizes utilization of synchronous information and communication technologies, the need for integration of activities, a viable policy, health information literacy training and the use of a mix of persuasion techniques as an effective health promotion strategy.
This paper explores the shared experiences of practices of blended librarianship among Zimbabwean academic librarians to identify how adequately they comply with their dynamic roles and functions. The paper relies on the theoretical constructs from Bell & Shank's (2004, 2007) blended librarianship and Lave & Wenger's (1991) Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP) to understand how Zimbabwean academic librarians practice blended librarianship in the workplace through engagement in legitimate work tasks. The investigators used phenomenology to explore academic librarians' experiences of blended librarianship. They selected a sample of 101 academic librarians and later delivered a semi-structured questionnaire to the sample,
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