Coughenour Courtney, Pharr Jennifer, Gakh Maxim, Clark Sheila, Cheong Prescott
School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, Box 3064 Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA.
Children (Basel). 2019 Feb 8;6(2):26. doi: 10.3390/children6020026.
Studies show that children who attend full-day kindergarten (FDK) experience both academic and developmental benefits compared to children who attend half-day programs. Sectors outside of health, such as education, can have important intended and unintended impacts on health. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand perceptions of parental and other stakeholders in Southern Nevada (USA) about the education⁻health link, and to understand priorities regarding how FDK access could affect health. Two 90-minute focus groups were conducted with 14 adult stakeholder participants representing parents, current and former teachers, and community members. Transcripts were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Eight major themes and several subthemes emerged; findings related to each are discussed. 'Access' was mentioned most frequently ( = 43), followed by 'Time' ( = 25), and 'Lifetime educational attainment' ( = 17). Participants were overall in favor of expanding access to FDK and felt that FDK could improve social skills, increase the amount of physical activity, and provide additional time for educators to detect additional learning disabilities when compared to half-day programs. Although the purpose was to understand priorities related to the education⁻health link, participants spent little time discussing this, suggesting this association is not inherently considered. Health and education stakeholders should collaborate to increase awareness, as this link may serve as an upstream approach to downstream effects on population health outcomes.
研究表明，与参加半日制幼儿园课程的儿童相比，参加全日制幼儿园（FDK）的儿童在学业和发展方面都有好处。教育等健康以外的部门可能对健康产生重要的预期和非预期影响。这项定性研究的目的是了解美国内华达州南部的家长和其他利益相关者对教育与健康联系的看法，并了解获得全日制幼儿园教育如何影响健康的优先事项。我们与14名成年利益相关者参与者进行了两个90分钟的焦点小组讨论，这些参与者代表家长、现任和前任教师以及社区成员。使用传统内容分析法对访谈记录进行了分析。出现了八个主要主题和几个子主题；并对与每个主题相关的研究结果进行了讨论。“可及性”被提及的频率最高（=43），其次是“时间”（=25）和“终身教育成就”（=17）。总体而言，参与者赞成扩大全日制幼儿园教育的可及性，并认为与半日制课程相比，全日制幼儿园教育可以提高社交技能、增加体育活动量，并为教育工作者提供更多时间来发现更多学习障碍。尽管目的是了解与教育-健康联系相关的优先事项，但参与者很少花时间讨论这一点，这表明这种联系并非本质上被考虑在内。健康和教育利益相关者应合作提高认识，因为这种联系可能是对人群健康结果产生下游影响的上游方法。
