Core Components

Raising Healthy Children (RHC) is a universally delivered, school-based prevention programme that focuses on enhancing protective factors for positive child/youth development. This multifaceted programme integrates the entire social environment of school, family and peers to promote key elements that are critical for school success (e.g. classroom management strategies, partnership with families, and positive school climate). RHC is also designed to reduce risk factors for family management problems, family conflict, social misconduct, and problem outcomes (including school drop-out, delinquency, drug use, violence).   

RHC is delivered in primary and secondary schools (Primary 1 – Senior 3), and consists of 3 components; 1) staff development; 2) family intervention; and 3) peer intervention. The staff development component consists of a series of workshops that are delivered to school staff. These workshops focus on proactive classroom management strategies, social emotional learning, student motivation, interactive teaching, and cooperating learning. A training curriculum is used to deliver this component.

The family intervention component consists of five 2-hour evening sessions delivered to groups of 10-15 parents. These sessions are offered twice yearly, and aim to boost parents’ family management abilities; strengthen family bonds; and support children’s school success, healthy beliefs and standards for good behaviour. Younger children in kindergarten to grade 5 (equivalent to P1-P7 in Scotland) are invited to join their parents towards the end of sessions for “family practice”. This allows parents to practice their learned skills with their children. Activities conducted include skills demonstration, modelling, role play, group discussions, and home practice activities. A curriculum is used to deliver this component.

Lastly, the peer intervention component involves delivery of a social and emotional element using age appropriate support learning materials. Teachers use these resources to practice the social and emotional skills, and then they teach these skills to students in the school environment. This approach of teaching infuses social and emotional learning into the fibre of how students engage in classroom learning, and how the teacher serves as a model of social and emotional learning in the classroom. No curriculum is used to deliver the peer intervention component.

Fidelity

RHC programme fidelity is ensured by implementation of the following measure:

1. Training of school staff, parenting coordinators/workshop leaders and implementing team
2. Regular coaching visits to monitoring programme implementation (at least twice a month)
3. Use of implementation checklist for course correction, and to assess programme progress
4. Twenty-minute recorded class segment for teacher self-evaluation, done once or twice yearly

Modifiable Components

RHC programme materials are available in English and Spanish. Based on the observations within the classroom, teachers can flexibly deliver the social and emotional learning curriculum to suit student needs.   

Implementation support is provided by Raising Healthy Children (RHC) trainers from the Social Development Research Group (SDRG), University of Washington, USA.

Support for Organisation / Practice

Implementation Support

Raising Healthy Children (RHC) programme installation is over a four-year period. During the four years, RHC trainers deliver trainings to implementation teams, workshop leaders, school principals and other school staff. These trainings are delivered as part of the staff development component, and to support delivery of the family and peer intervention components of the programme. RHC trainers also provide coaching training and conduct one observation visit to the coach. RHC trainers provide assistance with programme implementation evaluation, and can offer trainer trainings to build local capacity and programme sustainability.

Licence Requirements

Licencing agreement is to be put in place.

Start-up Costs

The cost of the staff development training varies depending on the number of teachers, the number of schools etc. On average, first and second year teacher training and coaching costs $950 per practitioner, and third year teacher training and coaching costs $500 per practitioner. Costs are inclusive of travel, and programme materials.

Building Staff Competency

Qualifications Required

The RHC student component is delivered by teachers and other instructional staff; parent workshops are facilitated by two trained facilitators (i.e. parenting coordinators or workshop leaders) who can be school staff or paid community members; and staff components are delivered by RHC trainers to principals, implementation team, workshop leaders, teachers and instructional and/ or support staff.  The implementation team include persons (within and outside the school) that ensure continued programme implementation support (e.g. school district person, school principal, school counsellor, coach, and parenting coordinator). A RHC coach, who is usually a master teacher, is hired by the school to reinforce teachers’ use of RHC strategies and promote teaching practices.

Training Requirements

Practitioner training prior to programme delivery is required. Staff training is delivered to all classroom teachers but can also be delivered to all school staff. Face-to-face staff training is delivered over 7 days, a hybrid approach to staff training (that includes face-to-face and virtual training) is in development. Staff training includes proactive classroom management strategies, social emotional learning, student motivation, interactive teaching, and cooperating learning. Implementation teams also receive 2 days yearly training to ensure system level support for programme implementation.

Supervision Requirements

Coaches conduct twice monthly coaching visits to teachers in order to observe teaching practices (according to implementation checklist), and to course-correct teachers on their teaching practices.

Theory of Change

Raising Healthy Children (RHC) is centred around the use of social development model which hypothesizes that students learn patterns of behaviour from socialising units of family, school and peer groups. RHC therefore applies strategies that strengthen positive social bonds between the child and the socialising unit, with the goal of creating strong connections in student lives, reducing risk factors for problem outcomes, promoting key elements for success and promoting positive child/youth development.

Values

Raising Healthy Children (RHC) is a universally delivered, school-based prevention programme that aims to enhance protective factors, and promote positive child/youth development. The multifaceted programme applies a social development model with the goal to create strong connections in student lives; reduce risk factors for problem outcomes; and promote key elements for success. RHC is delivered in primary and secondary schools (P1-S3).

• Does this approach align with the key values of your organisation?

Priorities

RHC integrates school, family and peer components in order to promote protective factors that are critical for school success. RHC also aims to reduce risks factors for poor health and problem outcomes.

• Is a programme that focuses on positive child/youth development a priority for your organisation?
• Is your service looking to deliver a multifaceted intervention with three components?
• Would a school based programme suit your organisation, or would a home visiting programme, mentoring programme, or telehealth programme be a better fit?

Existing Initiatives

• Does your agency have existing programmes that apply social development perspectives in improving children’s outcomes?
• Can existing initiatives be delivered across primary and secondary schools?
• Are the existing initiatives effective?
• Do they fit your current and anticipated future requirements?

Workforce

The RHC student component is infused into the classroom learning by teachers and other instructional staff; five 2-hour parent workshops are facilitated by two trained facilitators (i.e. parenting coordinators or workshop leaders) who can be school staff or paid community member; and seven days of staff training are delivered by RHC trainers to principals, implementation team, workshop leaders, teachers and instructional and/ or support staff.  A coach, who is usually a master teacher, is hired by the school to reinforce teachers’ use of RHC strategies, and promote teachers’ teaching practices.

• Can your service identify practitioners who could serve on the implementation team?
• Will workshop leaders or parenting coordinators be school staff or paid community members?
• Does your organisation have the capacity to recruit workshop leaders or parenting coordinators?
• Does your organisation have the capacity to recruit a RHC coach to promote positive teaching strategies?
• Can your service provide support for practitioner training?

Technology Support

Face-to-face staff training is delivered over 7 days, a hybrid approach to staff training (that includes face-to-face and virtual training) is in development. As part of fidelity monitoring, RHC coaches videotape a twenty minute class segment. This is to enable teachers self-evaluate their delivery using the programme implementation checklist.

• Will your service have the technology to support the hybrid approach to staff training?
• Does your organisation have the video recording technology for fidelity monitoring (e.g. phone, video camera)?

Administrative Support

As part of the RHC programme, parents attend five 2-hour parent workshops (facilitated by two trained practitioners) and staff attend seven days of staff training (delivered by RHC trainers).

• Is there a venue to deliver the staff development component and family intervention component of the programme?
• Does your organisation have administrative capacity and systems for a school based intervention?

Financial Support

On average, first and second year teacher training and coaching costs $950 per practitioner, and third year teacher training and coaching costs $500 per practitioner. Costs are inclusive of travel, and programme materials.

• How many practitioners will your organisation train to deliver the programme? Can it be financially supported?
• Can the cost of hiring a RHC coach and facilitators for parent workshops (if required) be financially supported?

Comparable Population

Raising Healthy Children (RHC) is a school based programme for students in elementary and middle school, equivalent to Primary 1 to Senior 3 in Scotland. Evidence of its effectiveness comes from two studies. One study included grades 1 and 2 students from 10 suburban public elementary schools in USA. Students were majority Caucasian (81.9%), and had a mean age of 7.43 years at baseline. The second study included grade 5 students from 18 elementary public schools in USA. The students were approximately aged 10 years at baseline, ethnically diverse, and from economically diverse families.

• Is this comparable to the population your organisation would like to serve?

Desired Outcome

RHC integrates the entire social environment of school, family and peer units to promote key elements that are critical for school success. It aims to reduce risk factors for problem outcomes and enhance protective factors for positive child/youth development. Programme implementation is associated with significant improvements across several outcomes. These include significantly increased social competence, academic performance, and school commitment, as well as significantly reduced antisocial behaviours. Effects were also reported to be evident in adulthood with significantly better health maintenance, mental health, overall adult health, and success reported at follow-up (ages 30-39 years).

• Are the above outcomes priorities for your organisation? (1)
• Are there other primary outcomes that your organisation would like to achieve, which are outside the premise of RHC?
• Does your organisation have other initiatives in place that effectively and efficiency address the above outcomes?