District-wide health improvement – an innovative approach, Nepal

Objectives

To train students in healthy living and create behavioural change
To train health volunteer groups and raise awareness of local population in diabetes/NCD prevention and healthy living
To influence policy makers to provide more focus on health and strengthen Life Orientation Skills in schools

Approach

The project builds on WDF16-1432 and is a second phase collaboration with HPF to strengthen and expand a school-based community intervention in rural Eastern Nepal.

Teachers will be trained to integrate the project model as part of the health curriculum at the schools. The teachers will be trained in healthy behaviour, three interrelated aspects of health (physical, mental and financial health) and life orientation skills.

The primary prevenention intervention will be rolled out at the targeted schools, where the students will be actively involved in maintaining vegatable gardens, cooking classes and health education sessions. The project aims to create behavioural change through a step-wise approach encouraging conscious reflections on own behaviour.

Outreach and empowerment of the whole of community will encourage engagement in healthy behavioural change and primary prevention. Health volunteer groups will be trained in NCD prevention and create links to the community.

Dialogue/policy meetings will be organised with district- and federal-level authorities to advocate for improving the quality of the health curriculum.

Project intervention will be analysed with the aim of measuring behavioural change and improved health outcomes.

Expected results

53 schools with improved health education classes
150 teachers trained as teachers of change
20,500 students engaged in healthy behavioural change
1,350 female community health volunteers and 150 HCPs trained in prevention of NCDs and health promotion.