Since times immemorial, India has always been a Center of Learning. World class universities & the “Gurukulam” model of imparting education, all have endorsed India’s unequivocal contribution to the cause of education. To meet the global challenges of a changing educational system, educational institutions today are vying to be Centers of Excellence, aiming to develop the overall personality of the student. Towards this end, the health and over all wellbeing of the student is of critical significance. The interrelation between health and academic performance has been cited by McKenzie and Richmond 1998 & Prescott Munro et al, 2007 amongst others. This more humane and holistic vision of health on campus has led to significant shifts in the theory and practice of health (in all its dimensions) on campus (Silverman, D., Underhile, R., & Keeling, R, 2008).
Higher educational institutions / universities provide an ideal “settings based approach”[1] (Doherty, S. and Dooris, M. 2006) for wellness promotion ((Corbin CB, Welk GJ, Corbin WR, Welk KA, 2009). Consequently Health Promoting University projects have been implemented the world over (Tsouros, Agis, D. Dowding Gina, Thomson Jane and Dooris Mark, 2008). The concept of a Health Promoting University means facilitating a whole organizational approach to embed health, well-being and sustainable development into the ethos, culture, policies and daily processes of the University (Health Promoting Universities Project: criteria and strategies for a new WHO European network”: report on a WHO round table meeting, 1997).
It is obvious from the foregoing that health and education are closely interlinked. Higher education institutions especially universities have a significant role to play in the changing paradigm of health in general and specifically health on campus. Unlike in the West, the concept of a health promoting university is nascent in India. Consequently, awareness and an understanding of the same is fragmented and limited. Sporadic, isolated and to a certain extent, incoherent (not addressing all dimensions of health) efforts are being undertaken. Further, information and documentation regarding the same is limited.
A model, near similar to the ones operational internationally is being implemented at the focal institution of the researcher. There is a desire to study national and international healthcare models and compare health care delivery systems at the focal institution of the researcher with those operational at other institutions, nationally. Such a comparative study would perhaps facilitate evolving a consensus model which could be replicated.
Higher educational institutions in India could be sensitized to adopt standards to facilitate global benchmarking. Their collective experiences may subsequently form the basis of a model for national policy formulation. The policy formulation in turn is likely to be the basis of a national consensus for on campus health care delivery systems.
Aims:
· To study the health care systems in higher & professional educational institutions, nationally and internationally.
· To compare the health care delivery system implemented at the focal institution of the researcher with the health care delivery systems implemented at other higher professional educational institutions on the basis of the questionnaire and cite the healthcare delivery model operational at the focal institution of the researcher, as a case study.
Objectives:
1. To obtain a baseline information on healthcare systems operational at different educational institutions / universities in India and abroad.
2. Describe in detail the healthcare model of the focal institution of the researcher. Showcase the model at the focal institution of the researcher as one of the comprehensive healthcare models on campus of an educational institution in India.
3. To recommend future policies, and strategic planning[2] with a view to improve the healthcare delivery systems at higher professional educational institutions & universities.
Material and Methods:
The present study focuses on the healthcare delivery systems prevalent in higher & professional educational institutions in India, based on the questionnaire circulated and responses obtained. The study proposes to showcase the healthcare delivery systems operational at one of the higher educational institutions at Pune.
The primary data was obtained from an interview and an analysis of the responses obtained from students, to the questionnaire administered personally by the researcher.
As regards secondary data, published literature, relevant to the promotion of health and well-being of young people in Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) / universities was identified. Publications accessed include articles / reports focusing on a selection of health topics pertaining to health promotion[3] / intervention with students. This was to identify “on campus” healthcare models and different strategies adopted for health promotion / intervention.
Findings and Discussion:
A total of 1200 filled forms were obtained. 1071 such completely filled forms have been finally analyzed by using SPSS software package, version 16.0.
The findings and analysis of the above 1071 observations are presented along with the discussions.
Health and education are explicably interlinked (Escolme, R. James, K. Aylward, N. 2002). The present study was undertaken to compare the healthcare delivery systems prevalent in higher / professional educational institutions in India and comparing the same with those operational at the focal institution of the researcher. An in depth study of health care delivery systems at higher / professional educational institutions/ universities, globally was also done. This led to an understanding of the concept of a Health Promoting College / University. The study concludes with proposing introduction of this concept into the educational system of the country.
[1] Setting Based Approach: A setting is a social system in which people live, work, learn, love and play –characterized by a particular organizational culture, structure, function, norms and values –into wish health must enter through appropriate entry points. Setting may be formal organizational environments e.g. schools, hospitals, prisons; geographic areas e.g. communities, cities or may be informal settings such as street corners, bars, homes etc. All settings are interconnected and each setting is a distinct but not separate part of a wider interdependent eco-system. (Doherty, S. and Dooris, M. (2006). ‘The healthy settings approach: the growing interest within colleges and universities’. Education and Health, 24(3): 42-43).
[2] Strategic Planning: Strategic planning involves a detailed understanding of various systems of the organization and environment in which it operates (Kazmi 1996)
[3] Health Promotion: It is the process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health (the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, WHO Europe, 1986). Health promotion comprises efforts to enhance positive health and prevent ill-health through the overlapping spheres of health education, prevention and health protection (Dunne, C. Somerset, M. 2004)
