Using web-based tools to promote healthy school environments

Colorado has been supporting the coordinated school health model for over six years, with nearly 200 school health teams now promoting improvements related to healthy school environments. Over the past year, the Colorado Department of Education and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, with funding from the Colorado Health Foundation, has initiated a web-enabled data tracking system to define parameters of healthy school environments and to facilitate the ongoing monitoring of changes related to school policies and practices. Lessons to be shared regarding this automated reporting tool relate to: 1) the opportunities for using policy change as a mechanism for institutionalizing and sustaining healthy school environments 2) the challenges related to data collection and reporting at the school and district levels 3) positive changes observed in linking coordinated school health with Wellness Policy implementation and 4) future options for using web-enabled reporting systems to enable schools to self-assess, monitor and improve their policies and practices related to physical education, physical activity, nutrition and health services. Colorado's experiences in creating a web-enabled data reporting systems highlight the importance of school policies as defining and promoting healthy school environments while underscoring the importance of ongoing assessment and monitoring of the extent to which these policies are being enforced and implemented. Opportunities for using the coordinated school health model to activate policy refinement and implementation will be detailed. Options for using this type of policy tracking system for assessing changes in student health and well-being related to obesity will be explored.