Relationships between COVID-related health literacy, mental health and workload of school leaders

Abstract

Objective: Studies have shown that school leaders’ health literacy is key to supporting health development in school. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of school leaders’ health literacy became evident, as school leadership was characterised with uncertainty and demanded high levels of alertness to the need to implement rapidly changing health-related measures at short notice. This study sought to explore school leaders’ health literacy, mental health and work-related characteristics in Danish public primary and lower secondary schools during the pandemic. Methods: Selecting schools from the national Danish register of institutions a sample of 220 complete responses was achieved in a cross-sectional survey. School leaders or a member of the school management team completed a self-administered version of the COVID-HL: School Principals Survey, which assessed health literacy, three domains of mental health, sense of coherence and workload. Data were analysed using chi-square tests and logistic regression. Results: The majority of school leaders (71.4%) demonstrated a sufficient level of health literacy. However, there was a significant difference in workload increase between those with sufficient (66.0%) and insufficient (81.6%) health literacy. A high general workload was associated with lower well-being, while an increase in workload during the COVID-19 pandemic was linked to psychosomatic complaints. Sense of coherence explained variations in well-being, emotional exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of enhancing the health literacy of Danish school leaders, enabling them to deal effectively with complex health-related information and make informed decisions during health crises. Strengthening health literacy is crucial to promoting overall health and well-being in schools under normal circumstances, as well as navigating health crises.

Leading Schools During a Global Crisis: Kazakhstani School Leaders’ Perspectives and Practices

“…Understandably, intensive communication during school closures increased the workload for most school leaders in Kazakhstan, similar to international evidence (Bellemans et al, 2023;Kristensen et al, 2024). Although past research does not address the correlation between high work intensity and school types, location, and school leader gender, the current study reveals that urban school leaders faced a significant increase in their workload compared to their rural counterparts.…”

“…Firstly, while previous international literature has highlighted how teachers' insufficient digital competence impacted the effectiveness and frequency of online lessons during school closures (Ko¨nig et al, 2020;Lepp et al, 2021), the current study extends our understanding of how school leaders addressed this issue by supporting teachers' digital literacy and navigating disparities in professional development opportunities. Secondly, while prior international research has recognized the significance of maintaining regular lines of communication with stakeholders, including parents (McLeod & Dulsky, 2021), resulting in school leaders' workload intensity (Bellemans et al, 2023;Kristensen et al, 2024), the current study has identified the unequal distribution of the burden of intensive communication among school leaders. Thirdly, while existing literature has touched on teacher autonomy in academic matters during the pandemic (Azhari & Fajri, 2022;Chang et al, 2022;Keese et al, 2022;Kramer et al, 2023), this study examined the intersection of leadership practices regarding autonomy with school type, location, and school leaders' gender.…”

“…Similarly, a survey of 45 school leaders from the US reported that the technologically driven nature of communicating with stakeholders exhibited some challenges (Okilwa & Barnett, 2021). The intensity of communication was challenging for school leaders and increased their workload (Bellemans et al, 2023;Kristensen et al, 2024). However, the evidence reviewed does not indicate the extent to which the burden of intensive communication was unequally distributed across school leaders.…”