Abstract
Objectives: To investigate the status of health education in elementary schools. Methods: 620 school nurses were surveyed by questionnaires from September to December in 2003. Results: 1) Among the school nurses under inquiry of planning of health education, 3.3% and 9.3% of them did not prepare for teaching plan. 2) The average time for health education by a school nurse was 96.8 hours a year, and handouts for health education were distributed 10.6 times. Among the contents of health education, sex education took the largest portion of health education with 24.6 hours a year. 3) With regard to the contents of health education covered by school nurses, sex education ranked first with 90.2%, next came drug abuse with 78.4%, dental health, CDC, disease control, healthy life and smoking, body structure and function and growth and development safety, alcohol, nutrition and environmental health followed them. 4) The main contents of education were CDC, dental health sex, healthy life and disease control for 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students, sex, CDC, disease control and safety for 4th grade students, and sex, CDC, drug abuse and smoking for 5th and 6th grade students. 5) 72.6% of school nurses used class room for health education, 20.0% and 7.4% of them used grade and others such as broadcast, respectively. 6) 42.1% of school nurses used blackboard, 37.0% and 18.6% of them used visual media and handout as a teaching aids for health education. 7) 31.6% of school nurses replied that education time was insufficient 9.5% and 15.9% of them replied the contents of health education were inadequate and methods of health education were inappropriate, respectively. Conclusions: For the successful school health education, it would be in need of sufficient time for health education by opening health education course and of modify the various working conditions of school nurses, and those of effective educational materials and media for health education.
