Initial Teacher Training to Promote Health and Well-Being in Schools--A Systematic Review of Effectiveness, Barriers and Facilitators.

Objectives:To conduct a systematic review of effectiveness, and barriers and facilitators, of initial teacher training to promote health and well-being in schools.Design:Systematic review of the literature.Method:A total of 20 bibliographic databases were searched, including MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Social Science Citation Index. Studies were included if they reported research into the processes and/or outcomes of initial (pre-service) teacher training to promote health.Results:A total of 20 studies met the inclusion criteria, mainly from the UK and Australia. Twelve studies assessed outcomes, commonly using uncontrolled before and after assessment designs. Sixteen studies evaluated the processes of training. Training was diverse in terms of content, format and health topics. The studies demonstrated short-term increases in trainee teachers’ factual knowledge of health issues, a general increase in teachers’ confidence to teach about health and to identify and help children with specific health issues. The...