Health Education

WHAT WE DO

The NYAM Office of School Health Programs (OSHP) provides customized evidence-based programs to help all students in grades K-12 develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to lead healthy lives and succeed in school. OSHP works closely with administrators, teachers and interdisciplinary school staff to:

• Address health issues school-wide and in the classroom to meet health education and school wellness policies and mandates
• Integrate technology into learning about health
• Create a healthy school environment that encourages learning
• Engage parents and families in promoting the health and academic success of all students

To support the role of schools in fostering the healthful growth and development of students in support of academic success, OSHP provides customized

• Professional development
• Needs assessments
• Program development
• Action planning
• Curriculum development
• Training workshops
• Consultation
• Technical Assistance

OSHP offers the expertise to help schools and communities address health topics and issues that include, but are not limited to:

• Obesity and diabetes prevention through a focus on nutrition and physical activity
• Skin health and sun safety
• Tobacco use
• Injury and violence prevention
• Sexual risk behaviors
• Asthma management
• Mental and emotional health
• HIV/AIDS
• Puberty/growth and development
• Sexuality and family life

EXPERTISE

Promoting Health in Support of Learning

For more than 30 years, OSHP has provided dynamic professional development for teachers, K-12 in New York City and nationally to help them motivate students to maintain and improve their health, prevent disease, and reduce health-related risk behaviors. Through interactive, evidence-based professional development activities, OSHP prepares teachers to conduct lessons that engage students and facilitate their mastery of health knowledge and skills. Elementary classroom teachers learn to integrate the teaching of health skills into the school day and other content areas. Middle and high school specialists build their capacity to use inventive teaching and learning strategies that are designed to motivate adolescents to make healthy choices. All strategies are innovative, expand teacher capabilities, are applicable to other content areas, and contribute to a more effective learning community.

Creating Healthy Schools

OSHP helps schools implement comprehensive, proactive, and multidimensional approaches to build the physical, social, mental and emotional well-being of students and the entire school community. The OSHP facilitates the understanding of school health promotion in a broader framework and helps schools put in place policies, procedures and activities, and access community resources, to enhance the health of students and school staff in support of children’s learning. Through a customized, strategic and structured coordinated school health approach, the OSHP assists interdisciplinary school teams to effectively address specific health issues such as substance abuse, stress management, obesity, asthma, and violence prevention, among others.

Engaging Parents and Families to Promote Health at Home

A wide array of interactive, materials-rich workshops is available for parents and families to support the health and academic achievement of their children. These are tailored by the OSHP to align with other health initiatives and priority health issues at school. They include, but are not limited to, workshops to help parents and children mitigate the effects of negative stressors in the family, control asthma, handle puberty and adolescent issues, increase physical activity and develop healthy habits to prevent obesity and diabetes, and address the basics of nutrition, sleep, stress management, exercise, self-esteem, and loving care that can help children do well in school, on standardized tests, and in life.

HOW WE DO IT

The OSHP provides educational experiences based on evidence-based principles of adult learning, for teachers, school staff, interdisciplinary school teams, administrators, parents, and families that:

• Engage them intellectually and effectively to promote health at school and home
• Motivate them to be part of a team effort to improve student health and academic success
• Build on their professional and personal experiences
• Advance their skills in teaching and communicating with children and adolescents
• Increase the repertoire of research-based strategies they can use
• Incorporate technology to promote health
• Help them bring their own health skills to a working level of awareness so that they can serve as role models and teach them to children and teens, including:
• Communication
• Decision-Making
• Conflict Resolution
• Goal-Setting
• Self-Assessment
• Stress Management
• Health Advocacy
• Anger Management
• Refusal/Resistance
• Healthy Self-Management

All programs and services are customized to meet local needs and are available at the NYAM conference center or at a school site.

For information on purchasing services and programs, contact the Office of School Health Programs:

Joanne De Simone Eichel, MA
212.822.7224
jeichel@nyam.org

Nancy Ho-Cortes
212.822.7264
nhocortes@nyam.org

The New York Academy of Medicine Office of School Health Programs is an approved New York City Department of Education vendor. New York City public schools can purchase services using NYAM's Requirements Contracts that are already in place with the NYC Department of Education.