FOOT HEALTH FOR SCHOOLS

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FOOT HEALTH FOR SCHOOLS
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NEEDS ASSESSMENT

• To look at the types of footwear and foot health
  problems in 5 primary schools in the Medway area
• To create a health promotion intervention to meet
  the foot health needs of the school population in
  Medway

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METHODOLOGY

• 111 schools in Medway, 25,000 children
• 5 Schools chosen at random, 42 children
• All areas classed as disadvantaged
• Questionnaire
• Open and closed questions
• Teachers at a staff meeting
• Children in class aged 8
• Contacted Medway Council Healthy Schools Team

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RESULTS

• None of the 5 schools actually had an adequate
  footwear policy
• The Verrucae information used by Medway was very
  outdated
• Only 35 teachers knew the uniform policy for
  their school
• 80 teachers asked for a clear footwear policy
• 92 teachers asked for an advice sheet to give to
  parents about verrucae
• Children had very poor understanding of the
  school footwear policy

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RESULTS

• Do you think that the shoes the children wear are
  a problem in this school?
• What sort of problems have you come across

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• HEALTH DAMAGING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOURS START IN
  EARLY LIFE AND ARE SUBSEQUENTLY MAINTAINED IN
  ADULTHOOD
• (Hurrelman et al 1995)

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• YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE RESTRICTED CONTROL OVER THEIR
  OWN LIVES BECAUSE THEY ARE STILL LEGALLY AND
  ECONOMICALLY DEPENDENT ON THEIR PARENTS. THIS
  LACK OF CONTROL IS A DISADVANTAGE AND A
  SIGNIFICANT OBSTACLE TO EMPOWERMENT
• (Hegar 1989)

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• FOOTWEAR HAS BEEN CITED AS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN
  ACCIDENTS IN THE SCHOOL SETTING
• (Williams at al 2003)

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• SCHOOL IS A PRINCIPLE SETTING FOR HEALTH
  PROMOTION
• (Saving Lives, Our Healthier Nation department
  of Health 1998)

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HEALTH PROMOTION INTERVENTION

• To equip all pupils, teachers and parents in
  Medway primary schools with the skills and
  knowledge to enable them to make informed
  decisions about foot care

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HEALTH PROMOTION OBJECTIVES

• All schools will be provided with advice leaflets
  for parents and staff on good foot care
• School nurses will be equipped with the necessary
  skills to carry out simple foot health
  assessments in the new school intake each Autumn
  Term
• Lesson plans to be created for years R 10
• A generic foot care policy will be created which
  meets the needs of the school and the guidelines
  of the Podiatry Service
• There will be a quantifiable improvement in the
  footwear worn by pupils
• Teachers will know how to deal with Verrucae and
  know the guidelines in place

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HEALTH PROMOTION METHODOLOGY

• Create a generic footwear policy, lesson plans,
  advice leaflets and place them on the schools
  website for easy access
• Launch foot health at the Healthy Schools
  Roadshow
• Train schools nurses in simple foot assessments
• Provide a copy of the footwear policy to all
  local footwear retailers

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PROGRESS SO FAR

• Lesson plans written and in place
• Footwear policy in place and accepted
• Verruca policy in place and accepted
• Launch event

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What sort of socks? ______________________________
__________________________________________
What holds me on? (fastening) ____________________
___________________________________________
The bit around your ankle (Collar) _______________
_____________________________________________


Heel _____________________________________________
_______________
Where your toes go (toe box) _____________________
_________________________________
Should I be a trainer or a school
shoe? ____________________________________________
__________
What am I made of? (material) ____________________
__________________________________________________
______________________
The bit you stand on (sole) ______________________
______________________________________________
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Wear The Right Shoe for the Right OccasionMatch
the shoes to the activity
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• TESTING DIFFERENT SHOES
• Children bring in lots of different shoes
  plimsolls, party shoes, school shoes, slip on
  shoes, sandals, flip flops, wellies.
• Try different activities such as running races,
  jumping, turning around. See which shoes work the
  best for which activity

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• MAKE A POSTER
• Design a foot health poster for either younger
  children, mums with little babies and toddlers or
  teenagers. You will need to research the
  particular problems that these age groups have
  (e.g. babies feet are very soft so can be damaged
  by wearing tight pram shoes or tight babygrows).

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• PEDOMETER ACTIVITIES
• Give some students a pedometer for the day /
  afternoon. Each one needs to wear a different
  style of shoe school style with fastening, high
  heeled court shoes, trainers, slip on, etc. the
  students need to note the time when their feet
  started to feel tired, painful etc.
• You could also extend this activity by using some
  leather shoes, some plastic shoes. At the end of
  the session, the students take off their shoes
  and stand on some blotting paper to see how much
  their feet have sweated.