The Parental Co-Production in Health Promoting Schools Programmes – A Cross-Sectional Survey Study in Polish Primary and Secondary Schools

A whole-school approach to health includes, among others, the participation of pupils, staff and parents as one of the pillars of health promoting school interventions. Parental involvement is perceived as an essential component of actions to promote pupils health and well-being. Parents participation in school health initiatives can be analysed through the prism of the co-production concept, which is a perspective for the involvement of external stakeholders. Thus, this study discusses parental co-production in health promoting schools (HPS). It is based on quantitative research results in Polish primary and secondary schools implementing HPS programmes. The online survey was conducted among 500 school health promotion coordinators between March and June 2023 using the HPS Implementation Questionnaire. Research results show that more actions were undertaken to improve pupils health and well-being in schools where parents were co-producers of school health promoting programmes. It confirms that health promotion professionals should include families in strategic partnerships they are among the most crucial co-producers of school health services.