Can complexity theory shed light on our understanding about school health promotion?

Nastaran Keshavarz
PhD Candidate

Don Nutbeam
The University of Sydney

Louise Rowling
The University of Sydney

Fereidoon Khavarpour

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     Last modified: April 25, 2006

Abstract
This paper describes a qualitative research project to explore schools’ perspectives and experiences with the implementation of the health promoting school concept while complex adaptive system approach have been tried to be utilised in data collection and data anlysis.

Implementation of school health promotion policies and practices often involves change management processes that are complex and poorly understood. In this study, complexity theory is used to better understand and manage the change process in these complex adaptive environments.
Staffs of primary schools located at Central Sydney who have have implemented school health promotion have been interviewed. This information is being supplemented by observation, and by content analysis of available school documents.

Early outcomes suggest complex adaptive theory offers a promising structure to describe and explain the process of change in schools, and enables a more sophisticated understanding of the implementation support needed to introduce the health promoting concept into schools.