Complexity of choice: Teachers’ and students’ experiences implementing a choice-based Comprehensive School Health model

Background:Comprehensive School Health models offer a promising strategy to elicit changes in student health behaviours. To maximise the effect of such models, the active involvement of teachers and students in the change process is recommended.Objective:The goal of this project was to gain insight into the experiences and motivations of teachers and students involved in a choice-based Comprehensive School Health model – Health Promoting Secondary Schools (HPSS).Setting:School communities in British Columbia, Canada.Design and methods:HPSS engaged teachers and students in the planning and implementation of a whole-school health model aimed at improving the physical activity and eating behaviours of high school students. The intervention components were specifically informed by self-determination theory. A total of 23 teachers and 34 school committee members participated in focus group interviews. The minutes of planning meetings were collected throughout the intervention process.Results:Analysis of the da...