Referrals and Determinant Factors of a National School Health Campaign in Lebanon on Children Aged between 3 and 12 Years Old.

In this extensive study examining the health of 7184 school children aged 3 to 12 in 27 Lebanese schools, screenings involved medical evaluation and interviews, complemented by phone interviews with 3880 parents. Notably, one in two students received a medical referral, revealing prevalent issues such as dental cavities (33%), under-vaccination (25%), undetected vision problems (13%), abnormal growth (6%), underweight (27%), and overweight (33%). Additional concerns encompassed abnormal vital signs (3%), abuse signs (0.6%), infectious skin lesions (1.6%), scoliosis (1.7%), abnormal auscultation (heart 1.1%, lungs 1.2%), ear problems (3.3%), precocious puberty (0.7%), and neurologic signs (0.6%). Mental health challenges affected 20-25% of students. Public schools and Beirut exhibited higher referral rates, with girls, older children, overweight students, those lacking regular pediatrician visits, and children of self-employed or less educated parents facing elevated referral rates. In contrast, children of healthcare workers experienced fewer referrals. Against this backdrop, the study emphasizes the imperative for targeted health initiatives, particularly in marginalized areas and for socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Priority areas include dental care, weight issues, mental health, vaccination compliance, and addressing vision problems to enhance learning outcomes.

A National School Health Campaign in Lebanon on Children Aged between 3 and 12 Years Old: Concordance Level between Parents' Reports and Medical Visit Findings about Physical and Mental Health.

A school's commitment to promoting health extends beyond students' efforts to encompass parental involvement and must recognize the critical role of parents in enhancing overall student well-being. This study, conducted in 27 schools across Lebanon, assessed parents' awareness of their children's physical and mental health. A school health campaign involved direct medical interventions on 7184 students, followed by phone interviews with 3880 parents to compare their responses with the medical findings. Discordances ranged from extreme mismatches (≥50%) to mild mismatches (<15%), with notable disparities in incomplete vaccination (67.8%), BMI (59%), and mental health indicators (expressions of sadness (69.1%), loneliness (61.0%), and anxiety (53.4%)). Factors such as school type, child's age, governorate, family income, parents' occupation, education level, and marital status significantly influenced discordance rates. Notably, mental health aspects exhibited higher disparities, emphasizing the need for improved communication between parents, physicians, and children. Bridging these gaps could empower parents with better knowledge, fostering environments conducive to lifelong healthy behaviors in children. The study underscores the urgency for enhanced communication strategies to bridge discrepancies and ensure a more comprehensive understanding of children's physical and mental well-being.

School-Based Pre- and Post-Intervention Tests Assessing Knowledge about Healthy Lifestyles: A National School Health Awareness Campaign on Children Aged between 3 and 12 Years Old.

In response to the diverse health challenges faced by today's youth and their extensive time spent in schools, we conducted a school health awareness campaign aimed at prioritizing well-being and academic performance. This analytical longitudinal study, spanning 27 schools in Lebanon, aimed to assess the impact of the awareness campaign on the health knowledge and practices of 5-, 8-, and 11-year-old students throughout pre- and post-intervention testing focused on general health and healthy habits, employing 11, 14, and 15 questions tailored to 5, 8, and 11 year olds, respectively. The questions covered various aspects, including sleep, personal and dental hygiene, nutrition, physical activity, addiction, security measures, and bullying. Out of the 7100 students who participated, 16.11% (1144 students) were evaluated before and after the campaign. The results indicated a significant increase in health awareness post-intervention across all age groups. For instance, in 5-year-olds, limited awareness decreased from 91.6% to 36.38%, while adequate awareness rose from 8.03% to 62.3%. Improvement varied across health knowledge topics, with security-related questions showing the highest enhancement. Factors such as governorate, normal-weight status, and close supervision influenced improvement. However, no significant correlations were found with school type, size, gender, age, nationality, parental factors, or comorbidities. The study concludes that the school health awareness campaign successfully heightened children's health awareness, advocating for the integration of regular health promotions into the standard educational curriculum.

Facilitating difficult conversations through art: creating an anti-racism digital image library for health professions education.

Racism has been recognised as a threat to patient outcomes, public health, and the healthcare workforce, and health professions (HP) educators and learners alike are seeking effective ways to teach anti-racism in HP education. However, facilitating conversations on race and racism in healthcare contexts can be challenging. Integrative arts and humanities approaches can engage learners in the critical dialogue necessary to educational interventions focused on anti-racism. Discussions of works of visual art, for instance, can leverage visual art as an avenue for indirection to balance introspection and revelation with psychological safety. Structured pedagogical frameworks that emphasise the perspectives and experiences of participants, such as the Visual Thinking Strategies approach, can lead to open-ended and collaborative discussions where participants can safely explore their assumptions in a space that encourages productive discomfort. Visual arts-based programs on anti-racism in HP are limited, though, in part because no collection of images exists to support HP educators in this endeavour. This paper describes the process of developing a digital image library to support HP educators seeking to generate discussions on race and racism as part of anti-racism curricula. We also highlight common themes, best practices, and potential pitfalls associated with use of the image library.