ERIC Number: EJ1297519
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Jun
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0017-8969
EISSN: N/A
The Healthy Environment Project: Promoting Sustainable Change in Early Childhood Education Settings
Farewell, Charlotte V.; Maiurro, Emily; Powers, Jamie; Puma, Jini
Health Education Journal, v80 n4 p472-486 Jun 2021
Objective: The Healthy Environment Project (HEP) was designed to improve familiarity with attitudes, confidence and knowledge related to health-promoting best practices, as well as the implementation of health-promoting policy, system and environment best practice change in diverse early childhood education settings. Design: Pre-post study design to assess the outcomes of the HEP intervention. Setting: Early childhood education providers representing 14 centres (n = 117) and 30 homes (n = 30) in Colorado, USA. Method: The Policy, System and Environment Change Process, which is an evidence-based strategic planning process based on intervention mapping, was facilitated in a professional development training format in 44 early childhood education settings. Results: Pre-post survey data (n = 125) suggest that early childhood education providers' familiarity with, knowledge of, and confidence related to the implementation of health-promoting policy, system and environment change significantly increased after the professional development training (p <0.05). No significant differences in these individual-level constructs were found between centre-based and home-based providers. The HEP also resulted in significant changes in environmental-level constructs; 154 total health-promoting changes (averaging 3.5 changes/setting) were implemented in 44 early childhood education settings. Conclusion: Facilitation of a strategic planning process in a professional development training format resulted in improvements in individual- and environmental-level constructs related to healthy eating and physical activity behaviours and provides a novel way to foster sustainable health-promoting environments in early childhood education centres and homes.
Descriptors: Health Promotion, Best Practices, Early Childhood Education, Preschool Education, Child Care Centers, Intervention, Program Effectiveness, Child Caregivers, Child Health, Young Children, Professional Development, Early Childhood Teachers, Knowledge Level, Self Efficacy, Familiarity
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Colorado
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A