Enhancing health literacy in schools

Co-developing resources and establishing a regional health champion network

Unhealthy decisions made during adolescence can have long-term consequences, affecting well-being and social participation in adult life. So it’s crucial that young people are supported to make informed health choices.

However, this support will only be effective if it delivers the relevant information in ways that its audience find engaging.

We collaborated with a patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) group to co-produce ideas for workshop resources, to be delivered to school pupils, aged 11 to 18, on key health priorities affecting women and girls.

Research goals

The project aimed to work together with PPIE group members to co-generate educational resource ideas for pupils in Key Stages 3 to 5.

Monthly meetings were arranged with the PPIE group, during which staff and academic collaborators shared evidence-based research on health issues affecting women and girls, such as menstrual health, contraception and healthy behaviours. These were based on the women and girls’ priorities identified in the recent Women’s Health Plan report (2024), Dorset Women’s Health Transformation Hub and the national Women’s Health Strategy for England (2022).

Team and collaborators

The research is led by Dr Humaira Khan, Lecturer in Health Promotion at Health Sciences University (HSU). Humaira is supported by a highly qualified team from HSU:

• Hazreen Majid, Associate Professor of Dietetics
• Dr Ali du Rose, Senior Lecturer in Chiropractic
• Dr Mustafa Agoaglu, Lecturer in Chiropractic
• Dr Vijay Pabbathi, Senior Lecturer in Anatomy and Physiology
• Marcus Sanger, Lecturer in Exercise and Health
• Wenona Dancy, Lecturer in Chiropractic
• Cherry Brennan, Post-graduate Research student

Working together, the project team and PPIE group have developed a comprehensive curriculum package based on gamification – the use of game-like mechanics within learning environments to increase student motivation, engagement and participation.

Aimed at 11-12 year olds, the game focuses on the transition between childhood through puberty to young adulthood. The Mario-Kart style game features a narrated introduction and challenges, objects with pop-up features and lifestyle choice optionality linked to point collection, and visually changing health icons, such as heart, lungs and energy levels. The game offers personalisation of background, characters and optionality features which are linked to collecting objects, e.g. an apple, a vape. These objects have point scores (higher for healthy choices) linked to a pop-up and question options tied to evidence-based information and the school curriculum.

The use of optionality features makes the game distinctive, as the pop-up features are creative in format, using podcast, video and animation, and the game narration guides the user through a chosen pathway until all object questions have been addressed.

Funding and support

The project has received funding of £16.6k from Wessex Health Partners. The team is also grateful for support from Portsmouth University Hospital PPIE facilitatory team, Professor Joanna Wakefield-Scarr of Portsmouth University, Dorset Women’s Health Transformation Hub, Professor Nisreen Alwan of Southampton University, and Dr Hyun-Joo Lim of Bournemouth University. 

 Impact and applications

This project has led to a Nuffield Foundation Education Theme Grant Application to develop a proof of concept game. This will be developed using a participatory approach with a PPIE group, and feasibility tested in local schools to gauge usability.