Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition (OHSC)

The Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition is an Ontario-wide, broad-based coalition, with members from public health units, school boards, hospitals, mental health agencies, universities, health-related organizations, education-related organizations, and parent and student organizations.

Our vision is that every child and young person in Ontario will be educated in a ‘healthy school’. A ‘healthy school’ promotes the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of the whole school community and constantly strengthens its capacity as a healthy setting for living, learning and working.

Historically, the OHSC developed from OPHA’s Healthy Schools Workgroup that was formed in January 2000 as a response to grave concerns about reductions in school-based health and social services. Building on foundational work done by the Community Health Nurses’ Initiatives Group of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, the workgroup drafted a resolution advocating for comprehensive approaches to school-based health promotion, which passed at the Ontario and Canadian Public Heath Associations’ Annual General Meetings in 2000. In December 2000, the OPHA Healthy Schools Workgroup merged with the University of Toronto Centre for Health Promotion’s School Health Interest Group and the Coalition of Ontario Agencies for School Health to form the OHSC. The OHSC is the Ontario school health network affiliated with the Canadian Association for School Health. Click here for our Terms of Reference [PDF].

With the leadership of the World Health Organization in spearheading a Global School Health Initiative, many countries have embraced comprehensive approaches to school-based health promotion, including 43 European countries, Australia, the United States, and Canada. These comprehensive approaches are known under a variety of names, such as Comprehensive School Health (CSH), Health Promoting Schools (HPS), and Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP).

The OHSC contributed to the creation of the Ontario framework Foundations for a Healthy School that is based on CSH. The framework encourages all stakeholders to ensure that students have high-quality instruction and programs, a healthy physical environment, a supportive social environment and access to health and other needed resources and services through community partnerships.

The OHSC emphasizes increasing the involvement of students, parents, education staff and communities in action around health issues, as well as creating conducive policies at all levels — provincial ministries, school boards and in local schools. The OHSC is dedicated to promoting the full implementation of the internationally and nationally supported ‘healthy schools’ concept across Ontario, through awareness-raising, capacity-building, knowledge-exchange of successes and best practices, and influencing policy development and funding.

OHSC in Action…

  • OHSC communicates through a membership listserv of over 250 interested individuals and organizations. OPHA provides in-kind secretariat support for the coalition.
  • OHSC convenes four teleconferences and one annual forum per year. These meetings enable province-wide sharing of successes in various areas of school health promotion, and the identification of opportunities to communicate the healthy schools message and engage in strategic action. The Ministry of Health Promotion supports teleconference and some administrative costs.
  • OHSC supports regional ‘healthy schools’ initiatives in communities across Ontario. Our Core Steering Committee includes many leaders of these initiatives.
  • Our Annual Report [PDF] details many of our accomplishments over the past year.
  • The development of our Ontario School Health Initiatives Database: This database is for internal use by OHSC members and Government of Ontario ministries to share inititiatives within and among the Healthy Schools community.

Impacts

The activities of the OHSC in partnership with other organizations have resulted in key advancements in Ontario:

  • ‘Healthy Schools’ Committees and activities being implemented in many schools across Ontario;
  • Successful partnerships between school boards, public health units, and other organizations to encourage and support ‘Healthy Schools’ initiatives board-wide;
  • The establishment of a provincial School Health Coordinator as part of a national network;
  • Effective collaboration between the Ministries of Education and Health Promotion that has resulted in:
  • Province-wide school-related policy changes (e.g., Daily Physical Activity, Healthy Foods and Beverages in Elementary School Vending Machines, Community Use of Schools, Healthy Foods for Healthy Schools, etc.);
  • Inclusion in the Ontario Public Health Standards of the phrase "utilize a comprehensive health promotion approach" in public health work with school boards and school staff.

 

Membership

The OHSC aims to be a dynamic and innovative force to move ‘Healthy Schools’ forward in Ontario and ensure sustainability, for the optimal health and learning of Ontario’s children and youth. To see other Healthy School-related resources and/or to become a member, refer to the red "Links" box on the right of the screen.

Links

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