Impact on children’s and adolescent’s risk and health - PowerPoint Presentation

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Impact on children’s and adolescent’s risk and healthKaren Wistoft Phd associated professorDepartment of education (DPU)Aarhus university

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Role modalities in urban health education Slide2

Introduction 2An important feature of contemporary welfare state management is

urban health educationIncludes alliances and partnerships for developing public health policies and

educational practices

that positively impact on the health of people

Health promotion (in the traditional sense) has been replaced by new managerial institutions and new cross-professional partnerships

For children and young people, this managerial revolution has meant

new roles

The premises for their

inclusion

into health promotion have changed. Slide3

Role modalities3

This paper investigates role expectations in relation to urban strategies of health education and promotion in DenmarkSlide4

Research project ’Children at risk’ (1.9.2007-31.7.2010) 4

Cooperative research funded by the Danish National Research Council

R

esearchers from two research environments:

Department

of Management, Politics and

Philosophy at Copenhagen

Business

School

Department

of

Education (DPU), Aarhus University

G

eneral objective:

To assess and compare

tendencies in

public health management and health education aimed at children and young people

Settings:

the Danish municipalities

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Data collection - 4 separate studies 5

Pilot study – in four

selected

municipalities: analyses of their health policies, organizational diagrams and interviews with their public health managers and coordinators (N=47)

Survey

-

telephone interviews with

the health

managers, directors and leading health

coordinators in the Danish municipalities (N=72/98)

F

ocus

group interviews

with

pupils

aged 13-14, from 18 different school classes

geographically spread across

the

country (N=108)

Comparative case

study

in

five

selected municipalities

.

The

comparisons are based on

local health promotion programs and

focus group interviews with health professionals

(N=

36)Slide6

Combined empirical perspectives6

Health management perspective and a

health-pedagogical

perspective:

t

he

interplay between the political-administrative

level and

the

professional level.

Semantic

perspective: concepts and meanings embodied in the discourses that have an impact on how children and adolescents’ health is put into words

Values

perspective: the type of knowledge, values and norms that are put into play through health efforts for children and adolescents

This approach links a value-reflected interaction between health professionals and children/adolescents (Wistoft 2009, 2010)Slide7

System theoretical framework7In a system theoretical perspective the matter of inclusion becomes a question of both the communication about people as certain

role bearers and a question of the ways people as persons react towards generalised role communications (Luhmann

1995;

Stichweh

2005;

Stäheli

2007).

Combined elements from system theory and health education theory in order to grasp different

semantic modalities of inclusion

of children and young people.Slide8

Empirical investigations 8In terms of making certain roles become popular in urban health education (in order for children and young people to become interested in wearing the roles) and by wearing

the roles they are becoming recognisable and communicative

In terms of preparation for participation in behavioural activities such as co-decision making,

different preventive initiatives and personal reactions

are becoming recognisable. Slide9

Conclusion of the project 9A new kind of identity –

‘the risky child’ is attributed to the children as they are involvedBeing confronted with different risks of childhood coming for example from eating fatty food, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes or having sexual relationships, the children are brought into

a moral, political and lifestyle oriented discourse on risks

In this discourse their identity (as children or adolescents) is at stake as they are expected to participate as

‘well-experienced information consumers’

They are expected to be

rational, qualified, and future oriented participants

. Often the health promotion information concerns a distant future in which the children risk

invisible threats

.Slide10

Two discourse on risk10The ability to choose freely (basically a risk taking attitude): The individual children and adolescents chooses what is best for him or her, and takes a, hopefully, well-informed risk

A preventive discourse in which the opposite attitude is suggested, namely, to avoid future risksThe two discourses are only seemingly in opposition

They both participate in identity constructions that turn children into risky people, potentially risk bearers, risk information consumers, risk

prioritisers

and choosers.Slide11

Risk reflexivity11

The paper concerns a thesis for further development, that present urban health is accompanied by certain requests concerning the use of health information:To the individual, this means that the role as healthy involves information processing and reflexive activities modulating between being a

risk-taker

and

risk avoider

Already in childhood, the risk-mode of relating to one self is promoted.

The role as healthy is also a role of risk reflection – and the purpose of urban health education. Slide12

Thank you for your attention!Karen WistoftDepartement of Education (DPU)Faculty of ArtsAarhus Universitet

Campus Emdrup+45 2613 2653kawi@dpu.dkwww.dpu.dk/om/kawi

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