Proclaiming the Decade of the Child December 2, 2024 by Taylor Walsh The National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives is developing a initiative to declare the next ten years the DECADE OF THE CHILD, a national research and policy strategy to refocus public policies, systems and the public’s mindset on whole child health and wellbeing. WholeHealthED has joined a growing list of organizations endorsing the vision and purpose of this initiative. To see those participating (and to add your own endorsement, organization and/or personal) check out the Decade of the Child site. Denni Fishbein, NPSC Christina Bethell, Johns Hopkins The project is led by NPSC president and co-director Diana (Denni) Fishbein PhD and Christina Bethell Phd, MBA, MPH, Director of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative at Johns Hopkins University. The Initiative’s vision: “… in ten years, infant mortality drops, child poverty is drastically reduced, and parents have the supports they need to nurture their children and avoid child maltreatment. All families have access to quality health and childcare. Gun violence no longer threatens our children. And every school is a place of learning, support, and opportunity.” (WholeHealthED would add: “The antecedents of adult chronic illnesses have started to slacken.”) The project has identified five primary areas to: “Refocus public policies and systems on whole-child health and wellbeing and to incentivize a program of research that equips policymakers, practitioners, and communities with a roadmap toward this end.” Public Health Must Lead Whole child health and well-being must become the top priority of our public health system The Vital Role of Health Care Transformation Health care systems, services, and providers must focus on the whole child and their wellbeing, Economic Justice for Children and their Families Businesses and governments must adopt family-friendly policies to lift families out of poverty and create stable environments for raising children Education Reform Schools must provide an environment and the tools that meet the diverse needs of the developing child. Research on Whole Child Healthy Development and Wellbeing A research agenda across NIH institutes and other funding agencies is needed to focus on the whole child Support is provided by the NOVA Institute for Health, where Drs. Fishbein and Bethell have recently been appointed Nova Scholars. Nova’s predecessor organization, the Institute for Integrative Health (TIIH), created one of the earliest models for “whole health learning” in its “Mission Thrive Summer” project, a five-week summer program for rising 9th and 10th graders in Baltimore schools that included gardening, meal preparation, mindfulness, physical activities, and team building and partnered with the city’s youth summer jobs program. The project also included rare outcomes research focused on students’ participation in multiple health-supporting activities. (TIIH was also WholeHealthED’s fiscal sponsor for two years.) WholeHealthED will work with the project on the questions of Education Reform and Research on Whole Child Wellbeing, which dovetails with our work developing a research agenda for Whole Child Wellbeing that emphasizes upstream prevention outcomes and complements the NIH’s NCCIH Coalition for Whole Person Health. And continue to make the case that K-12 whole health learning practices strengthen the foundations of public health.
NIH’s Neighborhood Schools December 1, 2024 by Taylor Walsh In early September 2024, I had the chance to introduce WholeHealthED and emphasize student wellbeing to the School Health Council of Montgomery County, Maryland, the large suburban county that abuts Washington DC on its northwestern boundary. Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is the state’s largest system, serving some 162,000 students in 140 schools. The county rolls across a fortuitous landscape of large and interconnected parks, sliced by tributaries of the Potomac River, which is its western boundary, and Rock Creek which winds beautifully down through Washington until reaching the Potomac below Georgetown. Montgomery County, Maryland’s jam-packed school district Its schools serve neighborhoods from the urban centers of Silver Spring and Takoma Park in the southeast, to large and diverse suburban communities, to farmland in the north and northwest. About half of MCPS schools have been designated Green Schools by the state of Maryland. Montgomery has also been home to my forebearers for longer than I can say. After a good Zoom meeting last June with Cara Grant PhD, head of Health and Physical Education and Steve Neff, of the Division of Pupil Personnel Services (who invited me to present at the September School Health Council meeting), I explored MCPS’s web-defined landscape looking for components of what we call whole health learning (WHL) practices: gardens, environmental education, expansive physical activities, mindfulness, teaching kitchens. (Cara is also currently president of SHAPE America, the large national member organization for school health and physical education professionals.) I had been inspired to reach out to MCPS after viewing the summer welcoming ceremony for the system’s new superintendent, Thomas Taylor (who grew up attending MCPS schools). During his remarks he noted: “We need to take care of our kids and their wellbeing before we can even address learning.” New Montgomery County MD Superintendent Thomas Taylor connects with students. After replaying that clip three or four times, I continued surveying MCPS for WHL-related programs and practices. Like many large systems, MCPS embodies a solid range of activities that fit under a WHL umbrella. But since they have come into the system sporadically over the years — often at a single principal’s discretion, not as part of a specific unified purpose — they are understandably disconnected and often overlap, with uncertain sustainability. During the Q&A portion of the health council presentation, I did get an observation I thought might hear: “We already do all that.” Yes, but… I was somewhat surprised when I could not find the environmental education program on the MCPS organizational chart. When I reached the department’s director, he told me the program thrives and is constantly in use at its robust central learning facility in a well-forested section of the county. But he was not aware of the School Health Council or its meeting. The Council is a public body with members from the schools, the public, public health, and healthcare (i.e., Kaiser), and is housed in the county’s Dept. of Health and Human Services. Montgomery County is also home to the expansive headquarter campus of the NIH. The two organizations apparently never have had occasion to partner, but with circumstances in K-12 education, in whole health, and child mental health and wellbeing evolving rapidly both are essentially exploring – separately – the “how” of Superintendent Taylor’s inspiring call to “take care of kids wellbeing before we can even address learning.” NIH has been funding research into areas very related to children’s health: Through a national high-priority research network on emotional wellbeing Supporting research on the impact on human health from time-in-nature Through a research project on “Fostering Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Health Among Children in School Settings.” As a primary national exponent for the federal commitment to the Food is Medicine movement, in research and in clinical application. Through the transformational Whole Person Health initiative, where we work on ensuring that whole health for the whole child is foundational to the initiative. Evolution: To a Student Wellbeing Council? The School Health Council may just be beginning to reflect the increasingly diverse and complex needs and changes in roles that MCPS will be considering (like inviting WholeHealthED to present on whole health learning and student wellbeing). For instance, the District is part of a large national school district network: the Comprehensive Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Approach for Districts Nationwide, a partnership of the AASA, the School Superintendent’s Association (in which Dr. Taylor has been active) and the Jed Foundation, whose programs are designed for teens and young adults. The intransigent and debilitating after-effects of COVID have been forging new kinds of connections between K-12 educators and child health and mental health enterprises, all bending decidedly toward the schoolyard. This was a major theme of last April’s annual Harkin on Wellness symposium, this year entitled Wellbeing in Schools, which we co-produced with the Harkin Institute and featured remarks by US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy MD. The summary is here. (With several of my own next-gen, with their next-next-gen in tow attending MCPS schools, I admit to a keen interest in Dr. Taylor’s positioning for student wellbeing.)
Whole Health Learning in the Unfolding era of Whole Person Health October 31, 2024 by Taylor Walsh Keeping Healthy Whole Kids Healthy: A Research Agenda? NIH’s “NCCIH Coalition on Whole Person Health” meeting Nov. 1 brought together innovative researchers and institutions now applying whole health principles to investigations and treatments whose schoolyard variations we have seen succeed in whole health learning practices in U.S. schools. This first membership meeting of the new NCCIH Coalition marks a kind of coming out for the whole person health research initiative that NCCIH has been leading at NIH since early 2021. WholeHealthED serves on the Coalition steering committee, having been part of the external stakeholder group since the initiative’s inception in early 2021. After beginning member recruitment in mid-summer, nearly 80 institutions, hospital systems, academic medical centers and professional association have joined he coalition (See more about the Coalition and the roster here). The Coalition will actively support NCCIH’s mission to spread the whole health word within other institutes and research centers at NIH and thus influence research around the US and beyond. NCCIH Executive Director Helene Langevin MD said recently that she has two important areas to develop: Research on whole person health grows and flourishes and leads to an increasingly integrative approach to biomedical research in general Whole person health informs all of health care, with an emphasis on prevention, health restoration and support of a healthy lifestyle Emphasizing the potency of upstream prevention – in real time WholeHealthED’s participation in this important initiative will continue our advocacy for much greater research attention to the upstream prevention potential and outcomes that children gain from their experience in hands-on, collaborative, student-centered whole health learning practices: in gardens, nature, kitchen learning, mindfulness, and PE programs during their school years. All of which support the formation of healthy lifestyles starting in the earliest years of schooling. Whole health, lifestyle, functional and integrative medicine clinical interventions have been shown to provide important benefits for adult patients. Of much greater long-term importance we believe is the potential of their school-based whole health learning expressions to “keep healthy kids healthy” from PreK through high school. And ideally to develop educated mindsets during kids’ student years that empower and sustain favorable wellness habits and decisions as they grow into adulthood. In practice and ideally whole health learning qualities help mitigate the onset of ill-health, offset behavioral issues and lessen that mental duress that have been compounded during this prolonged post-COVID era. We need much more coherent research that encompasses the full measure of support for student wellbeing that these practices express. This meeting of minds in Bethesda, Maryland at the campus of NIH, can go a long way to elevating the importance of including the Whole Child in the thinking and connections made in the growing Whole Person Health community.
The Infernal Presence of Obesity September 17, 2024 by Taylor Walsh An Obesity – Mental Duress (dis)Connection? While the nation has been exerting its resources and talents to push back against the intransigent presence of mental duress that remains from COVID, particularly for young people, the preceding national ill-health epidemic – obesity – has remained entrenched. The CDC reminds us of this in its recently released report: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services; 2023 which illustrates the presence of obesity in color-coded maps, beginning with the comprehensive national view (below): The national view is then broken out into variations related to specific populations: Non-Hispanic Asian adults: Non-Hispanic White adults Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native adults Hispanic adults Non-Hispanic Black adults The accompanying document, “What Can Be Done” outlines recommended activities for federal agencies, states and local organizations, and “everyone.” As is far too often the usual case, schools remain barely visible within a broad assortment of community activities that “can be done;” which primarily emphasize the usual solutions of nutritious food and exercise. While this report is a broad overview of the still demoralizing state of obesity in the nation, its guidance does not include addressing the all-permeating presence of mental duress, which is surprising, in particular as a factor that children and adolescents are coping with, and will continue to cope with for years. At the first of the year, CDC’s Division of Adolescent School Health released an important guide for educators: “Promoting Mental Health and Well-Being in Schools: an Action Guide for School and District Leaders” Surprisingly these guidelines make no clear reference to obesity or overweight concerns, which have been cited as elements of adolescent anxiety and stress, with expansive ramification for many post K-12 activities, including recruiting for military service. This disconnect is a primary reason our work is focused strongly on strengthening the whole health of the whole child. This needed connection was the subject of panel discussions last April at the Harkin on Wellness symposium. Inter-professional conversations took place between leaders from school gardens, mindfulness, teaching kitchen and other whole health learning practices, with pediatricians and child mental health policy and research specialists. You can check out the Summary here.
Joining NIH’s NCCIH Coalition for Whole Person Health September 15, 2024 by Taylor Walsh Whole Health for the Whole Child? WholeHealthED is serving on the steering committee of the NCCIH Coalition for Whole Person Health. The Coalition was formed earlier in 2024 after NCCIH (the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health) began organizing a transformational research framework on behalf of NIH around whole person health in early 2021. WholeHealthED has been a member of the initiative’s external stakeholder group since its formation. Our participation in this important initiative is based on our advocacy for much greater research attention to the upstream prevention qualities that are inherent in student participation in whole health learning practices: in the garden, in mindfulness programs, environmental ed, physical activities and in the teaching kitchen. In practice and ideally, these qualities can help prevent the onset of ill-health and some behavioral issues that emerge from the intransigent mental duress and anxieties impacting too many kids in this prolonged post-COVID era. Sustained time engaged in Whole Health Learning practices may also help establish favorable mindsets and attitudes kids can take with them on leaving high school which empower them to sustain their own good health and wellbeing. Establishment of the Coalition will create a membership base of organizations in healthcare research and program development that are focused on the emerging field of whole health and whole person health. This will include non-profits in academic and research centers currently engaged in whole person health activities and in integrative, functional, and lifestyle medicine, or who are investing in developing a capacity in the field. Other members of the steering committee include leaders from: Institute for Functional Medicine Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health American College of Lifestyle Medicine American Holistic Nurses Association Academy for Integrative Health and Medicine Cornerstone Collaboration Institute for Functional Medicine Integrative Health Policy Consortium Teaching Kitchen Collaborative at Harvard On Nov. 1, NCCIH will host a first in-person, members-only conference at the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. For more information, including on applying for membership, see the NCCIH page: NCCIH Coalition for Whole Person Health.
Surgeon General Murthy at 2024 Wellness in Schools Symposium September 15, 2024 by Taylor Walsh This year’s “Harkin on Wellness” symposium, focused on ensuring that schools employ all proven and effective measures to counter the mental health crisis. US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy MD We co-produced this annual 2024 Harkin Institute convening, which was led off by an inspiration keynote by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy MD, who reaffirmed his focus on child and adolescent health. Later in the day, Kathleen Ethier PhD, director of CDC’s Division of Adolescent School Health presented on her work supporting mental health options for schools. The day’s discussion brought together an interdisciplinary group of panelists whose diverse perspectives considered the question of what schools can do to support kids’ wellbeing and to offset metal duress, anxiety and stress. Blending insights from the garden to mental health policy and research, a unique day. From left: Laura Bakosh, Inner Explorer; Nancy Easton, Wellness in the Schools; Priya Cook, Children & Nature Network; Gerta Bardoshi, Scanlan Center for School Mental Health at Iowa; Kaitlyn Scheuerman, Waukee Iowa schools garden coordinator; and Bengu Erguner-Tekinalp, Drake University. And as with each symposium, the Harkin team invited 12 innovative schools and districts from around the country to receive special recognition for their work. Read the full summary report here.