Health Promoting Schools in Action: A document review aligning the UpLift Partnership to the Canadian Healthy School Standards Healthy School Standards

Authors

  • Dr. Julia C.H. Kontak Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada; Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9104-0678
  • Dr. Hilary A.T. Caldwell Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2951-4542
  • Caitlyn Macrae Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada; Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
  • Elyse Quann Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1997-831X
  • Dr. Camille L. Hancock Friesen Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada; Children's Nebraska and University of Nebraska Medical Centre, Omaha, NE, United States https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7260-8611
  • Dr. Sara F.L. Kirk Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada; School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2146-4448

Keywords:

Comprehensive School Health, Child Health, Youth, Prevention, Health Promotion

Abstract

Health Promoting Schools (HPS) is a whole-school approach that supports student health and learning. The Canadian Healthy School Standards (CHSS) provides a framework for national consistency through three Foundational standards and eight Implementation standards. In Nova Scotia, UpLift was a school-community-university partnership that aimed to advance HPS by prioritizing student engagement. This study mapped UpLift operations onto the CHSS to identify alignment, highlight examples, and inform future HPS implementation. A document review of UpLift sources (2019–2024) was conducted using the READ (Ready, Extract, Analyze, Distil) approach. Data were analyzed through thematic codebook analysis guided by the CHSS. Across 82 documents, UpLift aligned with multiple Foundational standards, including cross-sectoral partnerships and embedding well-being in schools. Activities also aligned with all Implementation standards, such as Students as Change Agents (e.g., Student Action Grants), Dedicated Champions (e.g., Youth Engagement Coordinators), and Quality and Use of Evidence (e.g., annual evaluations). Two additional themes – Knowledge Mobilization and Sustainability – were identified. Overall, the findings demonstrate how UpLift operationalized the CHSS and offer practical examples to support HPS implementation.

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Published

2026-04-29

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2026): Revue phénEPS-PHEnex Journal

Section

Feature Articles / Articles de fond

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