A variety of factors play a role in the incidence rate of chronic disease for the youth of Wisconsin. Youth and their families face conditions (access to nutritious foods, transportation, access to high quality education and health care) in their communities, homes and schools. Some communities experience significant disparity in conditions and resources available. These social determinants of health show themselves to us in the forms of suboptimal dietary habits, lack of health enhancing physical activity, obesity, lack of mental health care and support, and ultimately chronic health issues. Recognition of these social determinants will provide both upstream and downstream benefits for all members of the community.
The purpose of the Wisconsin project is to create a sustainable and authentic connection between local educational agencies (LEAs) to training, support and equitable evidence-based strategies. This connection will assist LEAs in their acknowledgement of and efforts to improve the health, academic achievement and well-being of students. The selected local education agency (LEA) resides in the least healthy county in Wisconsin, the district has disproportionately higher economic need (93.7% economically disadvantaged), higher rates of students with disabilities (21%), higher proportions of students of color (99.9%), lower graduation rates than Wisconsin as a whole (87% compared to the statewide average of 91%) and is in a rural community. Recognizing these challenges, including those in the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), Wisconsin proposes a five year project to expand the implementation of the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model.
The Wisconsin project will achieve the following outcomes with thorough mixed methods evaluation. We aim to expand knowledge of the connection between health equity and education equity through short term (1-3 years) anticipated outcomes including a 15 percent increase in the number of schools completing the School Health Index, a 25 percent increase of Wisconsin schools implementing a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program, and a 15 percent increase of Wisconsin schools updating policy and practices regarding school nutrition, food security and support for students with chronic health conditions. The intermediate (3-5 year) expected outcomes include: 20 percent increase in the number of of students in the priority LEA participating in 60 minutes of physical activity, five or more days per week, and; 20 percent increase in the number of students in the priority LEA who consume vegetables three or more times per day. We would anticipate long term (5 or more years) expected outcomes to include a decrease in the percentage of Wisconsin youth who are obese as well as school-level improvements in academic achievement within our focus LEA. We also anticipate a reduction in health disparities when students in the priority LEA are compared to peers in adjacent LEAs. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) will serve as a measure of those outcomes and measurements related to the emotional well-being of students’.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s well-rooted partnerships will collaborate and expand to support the strategies and activities of a comprehensive approach to health and chronic disease management and prevention for school aged youth over the five year period. Every professional development (PD) and technical assistance (TA) topic described in the NOFO will be directly addressed through the proposed activities delivering information, resources, and training. State infrastructure will be sustained and expanded through an existing state school health coalition, promotion of school health councils, and effective use of technology for efficient communications. Wisconsin DPI and its primary partner, Wisconsin Department of Health Services, have strong organizational capacities to carry out this project, among other numerous partners.
