Developing the University of Brighton as a health promoting university

Developing the Health Promoting University (HPU) means using a 'whole organisation' approach to embed health, wellbeing and sustainable development into the ethos, culture, policies and daily processes of the university.

In 2009 the University of Brighton funded a two-year developmental project to determine the feasibility of establishing the university as an HPU. This work was overseen by a dedicated HPU project steering group (PSG) which included representatives of the university’s Senior Management Team; Students’ Union; and Departments of Sport and Recreation, Student Services, Occupational Health, Health and Safety and Marketing and Communications.

The research team was commissioned to carry out the research underpinning the pilot project, the coordination of the project and its monitoring and evaluation.

Project objectives

The main project objectives were:

to create a healthy and sustainable working, learning and living environment for all students, staff and visitors
to increase the profile of health and sustainable development in teaching, research and knowledge exchange
to contribute to the health and sustainability of the wider community
to monitor and evaluate progress and build evidence of effectiveness.

The project had research and practical delivery elements. The research element consisted primarily of comprehensive scoping and monitoring exercises engaging stakeholders across the university. The practical delivery element consisted of the production of marketing and dissemination strategies and work plan, including a dedicated project website, testing out a series of high profile interventions and production of a support infrastructure to deliver the HPU approach.

Project impact

HPU outcomes were varied and included eight HPU-funded interventions. Three of these were aimed at staff, two at students and the remainder at both staff and students.

All of the projects contributed to the HPU approach and had the overall aim to improve the health and wellbeing of staff and students. Whilst outcomes were perceived as being easier to evaluate, time constraints meant that the interventions were evaluated as work in progress.

The importance of maintaining contact with national, European and international networks was reinforced. The HPU monitoring exercise outlined examples of good practice underway at the university on a broad range of health topics, with 68 examples collated during the monitored period.

Download the full report here

Download the executive summary here

Research team

Professor John Kenneth Davies

Caroline Hall

Jo Newton

Amanda Jeffery

Carlos Costa

Outcomes

Davies, J.K. and Hall, C. (2011). Developing the University of Brighton as a Health Promoting University: a pilot project final report. Brighton: University of Brighton.

Hall, C, Ramm, J and Jeffery, A (2011) Developing the University of Brighton as a Health Promoting University – the story so far In: Taking Wellbeing Forward in Higher Education: Reflections on Theory and Practice

Presentations

Hall, C., (2011), Health Promoting Universities in the UK, Formal presentation made during visit to the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Hall, C and Davies, J.K and Costa, C., (2011), Health Promoting Universities: University of Brighton, a case study. The 10th Nordic Public Health Conference, Turku, Finland

Hall, C and Davies, J.K., (2010) Health Promoting Universities (HPU) - Opportunities and Challenges: Establishing the University of Brighton as a Health Promoting University, Poster presented at the 20th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion, 11-15 July 2010, Geneva, Switzerland.

Ramm, J and Hall, C (2009) Establishing the University of Brighton as a Health Promoting University. Paper presented at the IVth International Congress for Health Promoting Universities, University of Navarra, Spain.

Hall, C (2008) Health Promotion: Healthy University, Invited keynote speaker, University of Brighton, Wellbeing Day.

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