POLICY BRIEF
Public Health Rev.
Volume 46 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/phrs.2025.1608316
How to improve the conduct of health-related research in schools
- 1Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- 2Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- 3Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Background Schools serve not only as centers of educaCon but also as criCcal environments for social development and promoCng health and well-being of children and adolescents. Health-related research conducted in school seZngs offers valuable opportuniCes to idenCfy current health challenges and assess prevenCve and intervenConal strategies. Policy OpCons Researchers face several challenges when conducCng health-related research in schools, including communicaCon barriers, complex coordinaCon among relevant stakeholders, and limited resources. This policy brief, with a special focus on Switzerland, highlighted these challenges and presented opCons derived from literature, semi-structured interviews, and a stakeholder dialogue to address them. The dialogue included representaCves from youth, parents, teachers, school principals, school authoriCes, and researchers. The results emphasize key opCons in three main areas: (i) recruitment and moCvaCon, (ii) retenCon and incenCves, and (iii) partnerships and collaboraCon. Conclusion Many of the proposed opCons do not require large-scale poliCcal shibs nor na-Conal-level policy changes but can directly be applied in schools and research seZngs, emphasizing their pracCcal applicability and potenCal for immediate impact. Health-related research in schools may ulCmately contribute to long-term health and well-being of future generaCons.
Keywords: children and adolescents, partnership, prevention, recruitment, Retention
Received: 07 Jan 2025; Accepted: 28 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Raineri, Weber, Rüegger, Kriemler and Puhan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Milo A Puhan, Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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