Developing and Evaluating a Data-Driven and Systems Approach to Health Promotion Among Vocational Students: Protocol for the Data Health Study

Abstract

Background: Vocational school students exhibit significant risk behaviors in terms of poor diet, frequent use of nicotine products, inadequate fruit and vegetable intake, low levels of physical activity, and poor mental health. This makes vocational students vulnerable to the development of noncommunicable diseases. Therefore, effective health promotion programs targeting vocational students are required.

Objective: The Danish study "Data-driven and Systems Approach to Health Promotion Among Vocational Students" (Data Health) aims to develop, implement, and evaluate a systems approach to support vocational schools, municipalities, and local communities in implementing locally relevant health promotion actions among and for vocational students. This paper describes the Data Health program and how implementation and preliminary effectiveness will be evaluated.

Methods: The Data Health program offers an iterative 5-step process to develop changes in the systems that shape health behavior and well-being among vocational students. The program will be implemented and evaluated in 8 Danish vocational schools in 4 municipalities. The implementation of the process and actions will be explored using a systems-based evaluation design that assesses contextual differences and the mechanisms through which the program leads to changes in the systems. Preliminary effectiveness at the individual level (students' self-reported health behavior and well-being) and organizational level (school organizational readiness reported by school staff) will be assessed using a quasi-experimental design, and cross-sectional data will be collected at all 8 schools simultaneously 4 times during the 2-year study period.

Results: This study was launched in 2021, and data collection is expected to be completed in June 2024. The first results are expected to be submitted for publication in January 2024.

Conclusions: We expect that the Data Health study will make significant contributions to complex intervention research by contributing to the paucity of research studies that have used systems approaches in school settings. The study will also provide evidence of successful elements for systems change and effectiveness to determine whether a national scale-up can be recommended.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05308459; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05308459.

International registered report identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/52571.

Keywords: causal loop diagram; cocreation; health behavior; health promotion; organizational readiness; systems thinking; systems-based evaluation; vocational schools; well-being; youth.