Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
National Rehabilitation Center for Neuromuscular Diseases, Aarhus, Denmark.
Scand J Caring Sci. 2024 Dec;38(4):936-947. doi: 10.1111/scs.13295. Epub 2024 Aug 27.
Health and education are interrelated and influence social, economic and lifestyle perspectives. Children with chronic illnesses experience barriers in the educational system regarding school attendance and social isolation. Gaining knowledge of compulsory education and how children with chronic illnesses are supported is crucial for the implications of future education policy and legislation in Scandinavia. This study compares Scandinavian legislation frameworks on compulsory education, chronic illness and school absence to form the basis of future research on education for children with chronic illness.
The study uses a comparative approach to explore the support of children with chronic illnesses in compulsory education across Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The documents included are 3 education acts and 15 secondary documents, which are notes and guidelines for the education acts. The data were analysed using a manifest content analysis.
We found four categories and six subcategories: (1) school obligation and rights; (2) chronic illness; (3) school absence: (a) categorisation of absence; (b) registration of absence; and (c) sanction; and (4) education support: (a) Hospital school support; (b) Home instruction support; and (c) technological support.
This study's findings demonstrate the similarities and differences in the Scandinavian compulsory education legislation and guidelines regarding chronic illness and school absence. We found similarities across the countries regarding chronic illness and school absence. Still, the findings showed differences in the systematic registration of school absence and requirements for attendance with compulsory education in Norway and Denmark compared with compulsory schooling in Sweden. This knowledge will inform and enlighten future discussions and decisions in education and public health. The results can contribute to awareness of the opportunities for educational support and perspectives about education for children with chronic illnesses. Future research focusing on the experience of children with chronic illness and educational support is needed.
健康和教育是相互关联的，影响着社会、经济和生活方式等方面。患有慢性病的儿童在教育系统中面临着出勤率和社会隔离方面的障碍。了解义务教育以及如何支持患有慢性病的儿童对于未来斯堪的纳维亚地区的教育政策和立法具有重要意义。本研究比较了斯堪的纳维亚在义务教育、慢性病和缺课方面的立法框架，为未来有关慢性病儿童教育的研究奠定了基础。
本研究采用比较方法，探讨了挪威、瑞典和丹麦在义务教育中对慢性病儿童的支持情况。纳入的文件包括 3 项教育法案和 15 项辅助文件，这些文件是教育法案的注释和指南。数据采用明显内容分析法进行分析。
我们发现了四个类别和六个子类别：（1）学校义务和权利；（2）慢性病；（3）缺课：（a）缺勤分类；（b）缺勤登记；（c）制裁；以及（4）教育支持：（a）医院学校支持；（b）家庭指导支持；以及（c）技术支持。
本研究结果表明，斯堪的纳维亚义务教育立法和慢性病与缺课指导方针在相似之处的同时也存在差异。我们发现，在慢性病和缺课方面，各国之间存在相似之处。然而，与瑞典的义务教育相比，在挪威和丹麦，我们发现了在系统登记缺课和对义务教育出勤率要求方面存在差异。这些知识将为未来的教育和公共卫生讨论和决策提供信息和启示。研究结果可以提高人们对教育支持机会的认识，并为患有慢性病的儿童的教育提供新的视角。需要进一步开展关注慢性病儿童体验和教育支持的未来研究。
