SHEUNews - March 2004
SHEU provides research, publications and survey services for those concerned with the healthy development of young people including: LEAs, DHAs, PCTs, DATs, NHSS schemes, Children’s Fund projects, Community groups, Teachers, Health Professionals, Govt. and Univ. depts., and the media.


SHEU & its work

 Services in your area
 In our work, we aim to provide local services that promote objective debate in communities about health and social issues. We mainly work with children, students and other young people, and look to foster co-operation between them and adults including professionals in education and health. This website provides a fast and effective way of exploring the range of services we offer including a list of primary and secondary schools that have undertaken surveys using the Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire. This list is proving to be helpful for Primary Care Trusts and LEAs as it indicates the range of schools in their area that have been involved in our data collection. Comparative data analysis can be carried out, between old and new school surveys, and comparisons made to local/regional data.
25 years of development
SHEU has gained an enviable reputation since 1977 when John Balding first developed the Schools Health Education Unit. Today, the Unit is part of SHEU which provides a range of survey, research and evaluation services to all those concerned with the health and social development of young people.
Building on over 25 years of experience, the company has an impressive client list, a unique databank and a range of products and services. These have developed to meet customers' need for survey, research and evaluation projects in the education and health sectors. SHEU has provided services to many UK Health Authorities. Primary Care Trusts in England are utilising our survey and evaluation services. Drug Action Teams have asked SHEU to provide services and we have also worked with regional Public Health Observatories.


Surveys large and small

The local nature of our lifestyle survey services can often mean that we work with small numbers of schools involving 1,500 young people or larger surveys involving 10,000 young people. Here is a selection of surveys across the country:
  • Leicester City survey involved 1,609 young people from 12 primary and 3 secondary schools
  • Highland survey involved 3,082 young people from 100 primary and 21secondary schools
  • Dudley survey involved 11,606 young people from 78 primary and 26 secondary schools
  • Ealing survey involved 3,844 young people from 35 primary and 8 secondary schools
SURVEYS for under £5,000?
Contact Angela Balding Tel. 01392 667272


Children’s Fund Partnerships

Since the last newsletter, we have completed a report for Leicester City Children's Fund summarising the results of the Health Related Behaviour Survey they undertook during Summer 2003. 1609 children and young people age 8 to 15 took part. The survey included a range of questions developed in conjunction with the Children's Fund to explore participation in, and feelings about, anti-social behaviour. These questions produced some interesting data with a clear gender difference in the level and type of activity children and young people said they were involved in. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the level of anti-social behaviour increased as the children got older. 9% of the primary pupils who said they had been involved in one of the behaviours listed in the questionnaire said they found their actions 'funny', this increased to 21% of the secondary pupils.

Download a copy of the full Leicester report
We are interested in increasing our anti-social behaviour data set and are looking forward to working with North Kesteven District Council on a range of questionnaires to collect data in support of their Corporate Performance Assessment.


TrendsThere are now four reports in the 'Trends' series. The latest, 'Young People and Emotional Health and Well-Being (incorporating Bullying), looks at data from 1983-2003. Following a press release the BBC reported 'Primary school bullying falls'. The BBC report also mentioned some self-esteem data but most stories only looked at one topic from the 'Trends' report. In fact there are 17 topics including: worrying 'quite a lot/a lot about…, worrying about HIV/AIDS, sharing problems with…, keeping problems to oneself, high self-esteem, control over health, satisfaction with life, fear of bullying, being bullied and where bullying happens. The following chart shows the rising trend of young people scoring high self-esteem.

HIGH SELF-ESTEEM 1987-2003



The 'High self-esteem' chart shows data from responses to seven statements used in the questionnaire since 1987. Only data from those scoring 'high' (11-14) on the abbreviated scale are shown. There is an upward trend and males, more than females, consistently score highest. In particular 14-15 year old males, from 46% (1987) to 61% (2001). 12-13 year old females have always reported the lowest percentages from 27% (1988) to 41% (1998/99/01/03)

The 'Trends' reports are proving popular and are being used in different ways including: informing lesson and lecture plans; supporting programme managers with their intervention projects and providing baseline data for a broad range of uses in education, health and other sectors. Visit 'Trends' for up-to-date information.


Healthy Colleges

We have successfully piloted survey questionnaires suitable for use in the Further and Higher Education sectors. After seeing the benefits of the Healthy Schools initiative, it's natural to want to explore what can be done in institutions with post-16 provision. The Further Education questionnaire has a similar range of content to the school questionnaires that we have used for many years, but looks a little more frankly at issues around sexuality and around mental health, and includes topics that are relevant to post-16 year olds, like housing and debt. We have enjoyed planning with colleges an appropriate sampling frame: it seems every one is different! In working with colleges we need to think carefully how the data is intended to be used, and work back to a suitable set of students who will be invited to take part. Our experience to-date shows that these young people are articulate and constructive critics of the process in which we are engaged. This has also helped us with the work we carry out in schools and in particular involving school children in the active consideration of the young people's lifestyle surveys.
Visit the Students Health Education Unit for further information.

Schools Health Education Unit

The Unit has always been keen to develop the Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire (HRBQ). Those of you, who have surveyed with us over the years, will know that the HRBQ has a new version every year or so. This is in response to feedback from education and health professionals and to reflect the developments in young people's behaviour.
New questions over the past 12 months include:
"How much water did you drink yesterday?"
"How many portions of fruit and vegetables did you eat yesterday?"
"Have you or a friend ever done any of these things?" (Chosen from a list of anti-social behaviours).
Local versions are also prepared for clients in response to their particular needs and to reflect local and regional issues. Although the basic HRBQ topic areas are adhered to additional or slightly different questions are developed to ensure the survey instrument is responsive to local needs. In preparing a report about the main findings from the survey, the opportunities remain to make comparisons with historical and/or regional data as well as utilising our annual compilation of data from across the country.
Visit the Units homepage to discover more about these services and contact the Unit
Tel.01392 667272


Education and Health

We are pleased to report that 'E&H' is read as far away as Australia and we are receiving more e-mails from a range of people working outside the UK. They are interested in obtaining specific articles as well as wishing to contribute to the quarterly journal. Some articles that have appeared in previous editions are now available as free downloads on our website. This has resulted in more people from across the world accessing 'E&H'. Against this background of interest in the journal, that was first published in 1983, we are introducing a new publishing opportunity. We are contacting a number of people who may be able to contribute up to 1000 words. This will provide, those interested in the healthy development of young people, an opportunity to share their ideas, thoughts and work experiences. Reaction so far has been encouraging and we anticipate that new articles will be appearing later in the year.

As little as 40p
 The individual annual subscription for 2004 remains at £18 for four issues (£4.50 per issue including p&p). Those wishing to purchase more for bulk distribution will find that the cost of each issue could be as little as 40p (incl. p&p), details from 01392 667272

In recent issues
 Articles published in recent issues have included
'SHARE: Sexual Health and Relationships' 2004, 22(1);
'My day as a school nurse' 2004, 22(1);
'SportsLinx: Improving the health and fitness of Liverpool's youth' 2004, 22(1).

Visit our E&H page for more details.


Young People's Worries

Health and 'the way we look'
SHEU data from 1991 - 2003 reveal that, since the early 1990s fewer young people report worrying about 'the way they look' although it is still reported to be the main concern for around 50% of 14-15 year old females. From the mid-1990s a downward trend, of those reporting this problem area, can be seen in this chart.

During the early part of this period nearly 60% of 14-15 year old females have reported being worried 'quite a lot/a lot' about their appearance. This appears to have dropped by 10%.The older females have remained consistently above the younger females. A similar trend is shown for 12-13 year old females. During the early part of this period nearly 50% reported being worried 'quite a lot/a lot' about their appearance. This has dropped to around 40%.

Figures from the males show a similarly declining trend with percentages ranging from around 30% in the early 1990s to the current 20%. 14-15 year old males have consistently remained above the 12-13 year old males in reporting their concerns about their appearance. Data from a new report 'Trends: Young People and Emotional Health and Well-Being (incorporating Bullying). £15 (inc. p&p).

Contact SHEU (Tel.01392 667272) to order your copy.


Online Huff & Puff update

 Web based survey
 Last autumn, a total of 49 primary schools in Devon used SHEU's online activity questionnaire in order to provide the schools with baseline data concerning the activity levels of their pupils. A number of schools also repeated the questionnaire in the summer term and the remainder have now repeated the survey exactly a year on from the first exercise. Huff & Puff The survey is used by the Huff & Puff scheme which is part of the Devon School Sport Coordinator programme designed to increase activity levels within primary schools. We have now had chance to look at the data collected exactly a year on from the initial exercise so that a clearer picture of change that is not due to seasonal difference can be identified.
Increased interest in activity
It appears that across the board, youngsters have an increased interest in activity. They report being more active generally with significant increases in those that are doing keep fit. More pupils are walking to school instead of going by car and 58% stated that they took part in hard exercise at least three times in the previous week. Pupils are now more likely to go to clubs that involve physical activity. There also seems to be an increase in the perceptions of how active are their parents0.
As with the first set of data we analysed, these data also show a significant increase for the question "How much does your school teach you that physical activities are good for you?", 67% said "Quite a lot or a lot" a year ago, now 78% say the same. The same is found with the question "How much does your school teach you about healthy eating?" rising from 59% to 74%.
Water
A marked increase in the data for those youngsters using their own water bottles was another feature of the data seen last summer. We had thought that this would be a clear seasonal difference but the data for the second winter surveys also show this increase.
Weekly activity
Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the dataset is the general increase seen in the proportions of youngsters saying that they take part in activities on a weekly basis.
Furthermore, there is also an increase in those saying that they would like to take up even more activities, has this project raised their expectations that other activities might be set up for them? In a world that is seeing obesity rates rising it is important to take the opportunities to provide activity for youngsters and this project appears to be making a difference.
The Youth Sport Trust and the New Opportunities Fund have been encouraged by the data collected by the Devon partnerships and are planning a National pilot for their 'out of school hours learning' programme to see if similar results can be collected for groups of specifically targeted youngsters.

If you are interested in using the on-line activity survey contact Angela Balding on 01392 667272


QUESTIONS

Have you ever asked a question about...?
In our survey work we have been happy to accommodate local requests for new questions to meet the needs of local partnerships. We have developed and tested novel questions about:- Active travel opportunities; Anti-social behaviour; Attitudes to breastfeeding; Binge drinking; Bullying in secondary schools; Drinking water; Injectable contraception. If you would like to see some example questions or data before planning your own survey, please contact Dr David Regis for details.


Is your survey booked?

Planning is underway for the 2004 Summer and Autumn survey programme. If you are thinking about survey work in schools and colleges for the next two terms, please contact us as soon as possible, to ensure the most efficient and convenient service for you and your colleagues. Find out about the discounts on larger surveys, surveys for under £5,000, and how our standard questionnaires and services can be customised to suit the needs of yourself and colleagues in partner organisations.
Tel. 01392 667272 for details.


Evaluation & Monitoring

 New service developments
SHEU provides Evaluation & Monitoring Services in a range of settings for clients who are involved with the Health and Education sectors. To date we have worked with a number of professional groups: the Police, Local Education Authorities, Primary Care Trusts, Local Councils, and Children's Fund Partnerships.
Projects
The following projects are examples of the Evaluation & Monitoring service:
Children's Fund Partnerships (CFP)
Rochdale CFP Questionnaire Consultation and Baseline Data Collection, Children and Young People aged 4 to 13, 2002. Summary report including detailed location analysis.
Buckinghamshire CFP Summary report of locally collected data, Specialist Professionals, Parents and Children and Young People aged 5 to 16, 2002.
Sheffield CFP Questionnaire consultation and baseline data collection, Children and Young People aged 8 to 10, 2003. Summary report
Camden CFP Baseline data collection and project evaluation, up to 720 children aged 6 to 10.
Birmingham CFP Monitoring exercise, 2000 children and young people in 16 primary and 6 secondary schools.
Drugs Education
Evaluation Evaluation of police-led drug education programme: Interviews with police officers, teachers, pupils, programme managers. Surveys of teachers and young people.
Drugs Education Monitoring Studies
 commissioned by Drug Action Teams: Monitoring and feedback from schools. New questionnaires for pupils and teachers in schools. Telephone interviews and summary reports.

For further details visit the Evaluation & Monitoring page.