Abstract

Promoting Whole Health at School: How Mindfulness, Movement and Compassion Practices Transformed Three Underserved Communities

Suzanne Carmack, PhD, MFA, MED, ERYT, NBC-HWC1, Suzanne Kennedy, PhD2, Lisa Clow, Ph.D., NBCT, NB-HWC, RYT3, Aditi Joshi, BS, CPhT, RYT4, Sueann Tupy5 and Jennifer Petrie, EdD6
(1)George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, (2)University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, (3)I Can't Do Yoga Yoga, California, MD, (4)Center for Well-Being Education, Sterling, VA, (5)Groveton Elementary School, Alexandria, (6)University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

APHA's 2018 Annual Meeting & Expo (Nov. 10 - Nov. 14)

This presentation will explore three case studies in which the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model (CDC, 2018) was applied to promote mindfulness, mindful movement, and compassion practices to key stakeholders (i.e. teachers, staff, students, parents and community members) in three underserved school communities from VA, MD, and DC. In keeping with each case study's community-based participatory research design, the panel of authors includes professionals involved in each of the case studies - each representing the diverse backgrounds of academia, public school personnel, charter school personnel, and a local community-based advocacy organization. The first case study (examining an elementary school in a Title 1 school from Northern VA) will explore how a "Family Health and Wellness Night" held in March 2018 empowered school administrators, staff, teachers, parents and students to embrace mindfulness and wellness concepts and practices, as part of the school's efforts to address stress factors associated with both school performance (students) and worker health (teachers and staff). The second case study (examining a public middle school in an underserved school in MD) will explore how a professional education training (i.e. "book study") helped teachers to prevent compassion fatigue, self-manage stress, and engage students in mindful movement mini-breaks throughout the school day (using the Genius Break model, Carmack, 2017). The third case study (examining a public charter school in Washington, DC) will explore how weekly parent breakfasts promoting well-being (using the Well-Being Ultimatum model, Carmack, 2015) and mindful movement mini-breaks (i.e. Genius Breaks, Carmack, 2017) improved both parent attendance behavior (i.e. on-time arrivals; lower attrition) as well as student reading readiness and behavior in a preschool classroom. After the panelists present their respective case studies, including mixed-methodology based metrics and analysis of each case study's outcomes, common themes and lessons learned from case studies will be shared and discussed with the audience.

Advocacy for health and health education Assessment of individual and community needs for health education Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs Occupational health and safety Other professions or practice related to public health Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs