The Role of Wellness Teams in Promoting Health and Wellness Implementation Strategies in Elementary Schools in Chicago

Abstract

Background: Strategies used by wellness teams (WTs) to foster local wellness policy (LWP) implementation have been documented, yet there remains a need to better understand how WTs respond to district-level LWP requirements, particularly when bundled with additional health-related policies. This study's goal was to explore how WTs implement Healthy Chicago Public School (CPS), a district-led initiative focused on both LWP and other health policy implementation in the CPS district, one of the most diverse in the nation.

Methods: Eleven discussion groups were conducted with WTs in CPS. Discussions were recorded, transcribed, and thematically coded.

Results: Six overarching strategies used by WTs in working to achieve Healthy CPS include: (1) using district guides and resources to support planning, progress monitoring, and reporting; (2) under the leadership of wellness champions, as required by the district, facilitating engagement among staff, students, and/or families; (3) taking district guidance and adapting and integrating it into their schools' existing structures, curricula, and practices, often taking a holistic approach; (4) fostering linkages in the communities surrounding their schools to supplement internal school capacities; and (5) stewarding resources, time, and staff for sustainability.

Implications: Strategies for LWP implementation by WTs in urban and diverse schools include planning for staff turnover, integrating health and wellness into existing curricula and structures, and leveraging relationships with the local community.

Conclusion: WTs can play a critical role in supporting schools in diverse, urban districts to implement district-level LWP and the plethora of related policies that schools are subject to at the federal, state, and district levels.

Keywords: implementation strategies; school health promotion; school policy implementation; school wellness; school-based health; wellness committees; wellness teams.