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SHEU is an independent organisation and was founded in 1977 by John Balding. Originally known as The Schools Health Education Unit it originated and was developed within the University of Exeter until 1998. SHEU now offers a range of survey, research and evaluation services to all those concerned with the health and social development of young people. The core of our survey work is the Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire (HRBQ) survey method, which has been used by secondary schools for over 25 years and by primary schools for more than a decade. These surveys produce a detailed profile of young people's life at home, at school, and with their friends. This information is then used by health authorities to inform health needs assessment and health care planning, and by schools to promote health education programmes, as well as in class work across the curriculum. To date, SHEU has supported over 5,500 health-related behaviour surveys involving over 685,000 young people. The data are anonymous, and so no individual participant's responses are attributable. They can be presented in forms suitable for use by health authorities, education authorities, community workers, school staff, governors, parents, and the pupils themselves. The original motivation for the survey work was to provide teachers with an objective picture of the lifestyles of the pupils in their charge, so that they might better plan and provide a curriculum in personal, social and health education. Since its inception, the uses of the survey data and services provided by SHEU have greatly expanded. Teachers have found uses for the data in direct classroom teaching. Health authorities have become interested in the data for monitoring and planning. To match this wider use, the variety of reporting and presentational services for schools has been greatly enhanced. In recent years SHEU's major customers have been health authorities, but we have increasingly become involved in surveys funded by local consortia drawn from education, health, DATs and PCTs.
SHEU is an independent organisation and was founded in 1977 by John Balding. Originally known as The Schools Health Education Unit it originated and was developed within the University of Exeter until 1998. SHEU now offers a range of survey, research and evaluation services to all those concerned with the health and social development of young people. The core of our survey work is the Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire (HRBQ) survey method, which has been used by secondary schools for over 25 years and by primary schools for more than a decade. These surveys produce a detailed profile of young people's life at home, at school, and with their friends. This information is then used by health authorities to inform health needs assessment and health care planning, and by schools to promote health education programmes, as well as in class work across the curriculum. To date, SHEU has supported over 5,500 health-related behaviour surveys involving over 685,000 young people. The data are anonymous, and so no individual participant's responses are attributable. They can be presented in forms suitable for use by health authorities, education authorities, community workers, school staff, governors, parents, and the pupils themselves. The original motivation for the survey work was to provide teachers with an objective picture of the lifestyles of the pupils in their charge, so that they might better plan and provide a curriculum in personal, social and health education. Since its inception, the uses of the survey data and services provided by SHEU have greatly expanded. Teachers have found uses for the data in direct classroom teaching. Health authorities have become interested in the data for monitoring and planning. To match this wider use, the variety of reporting and presentational services for schools has been greatly enhanced. In recent years SHEU's major customers have been health authorities, but we have increasingly become involved in surveys funded by local consortia drawn from education, health, DATs and PCTs.
Our Research
The survey service is itself a research exercise, enabling communities to discover and debate their current situation, but we also engage in research in its more formal sense. We undertake ad hoc survey and evaluation investigations for education and health authorities, and provide a survey design and data-processing service for other researchers. The use of the surveys by schools results in an accumulation of information in SHEU's databanks, which is used to compile the Young People series of annual reports. In 'Young People in 1998', we looked back over more than a decade for significant changes in the levels of participation in different behaviours. As well as this descriptive information, the databanks are also a substantial resource for more focused research investigations: for example, to demonstrate links between health-risky behaviours and family or personality factors.
Our publications
SHEU's two major publications are the journal Education and Health, a quarterly publication which started in 1983, and the 'Young People' series, the first of which was 'Young People in 1986'. Occasional monographs on particularly important or current topics have been produced over the years, and these have included alcohol, illicit drugs, bullying, weapons, dental care and mental health. We currently publish the Trends series. We are an important resource for journalists for all aspects of health education.
The survey service is itself a research exercise, enabling communities to discover and debate their current situation, but we also engage in research in its more formal sense. We undertake ad hoc survey and evaluation investigations for education and health authorities, and provide a survey design and data-processing service for other researchers. The use of the surveys by schools results in an accumulation of information in SHEU's databanks, which is used to compile the Young People series of annual reports. In 'Young People in 1998', we looked back over more than a decade for significant changes in the levels of participation in different behaviours. As well as this descriptive information, the databanks are also a substantial resource for more focused research investigations: for example, to demonstrate links between health-risky behaviours and family or personality factors.
Our publications
SHEU's two major publications are the journal Education and Health, a quarterly publication which started in 1983, and the 'Young People' series, the first of which was 'Young People in 1986'. Occasional monographs on particularly important or current topics have been produced over the years, and these have included alcohol, illicit drugs, bullying, weapons, dental care and mental health. We currently publish the Trends series. We are an important resource for journalists for all aspects of health education.