TRAINING CAMPAIGN FOR MONITORS AND HEALTH EDUCATORS IN THE
SCHOOL SETTING.
Background.
Available studies show that back ailments
are more common among adolescents than was once thought. Thus,
for example, more than 50% of 15-year-old boys and 69% of
15-year-old girls have already suffered back pain at some
point in their lives.
In earlier years, the Foundation carried out prevention campaigns
for back problems in schools directly by means of organized
lectures, seminars, workshops and the distribution of educational
material in print and CD-ROM. The success of these campaigns
and the facility with which young people adopt new concepts
merited repeating and broadening these initiatives.
Nonetheless, carrying out occasional prevention campaigns
requires considerable resources. For that reason, the Foundation
is considering the possibility of providing the corresponding
training to the adolescents' teachers so that they incorporate
this information into their classes.
Objective.
To prepare teachers in the useful concepts
for the prevention of back problems in school children.
Description.
In the 2003-2004 school year, the Kovacs
Foundation and the Physical Education and Sports Medical School
at the Complutense University of Madrid agreed upon the joint
organization of a course on scientific education. The course
was essentially directed towards physical education teachers
in secondary schools, as well as health personnel interested
in the subject who work in the school setting (physiotherapists
and school nurses).
The course's objective was to teach the instructors, and
bring their knowledge of factors that improve the health of
the young people's backs up to date. The ultimate aim was
to encourage the influence of this action on the prevention
of back ailments in the school setting.
The course contents included concepts on development, anatomy,
metabolism and biomechanics of the spine, the design and implantation
of prevention programs in schools, programs for the prevention
of back pain in school children, risk factors among adolescents,
norms of health posture in different academic activities,
sports and leisure, mechanisms for the appearance of pain
and organic disorders of the spine in adolescents, techniques
of educational evaluation of back problems, methods of diagnosis
and treatment of back ailments in school children.
The course included theoretical classes and workshops and
at the end the students were given a CD-ROM with a summary
of its contents.
Along with the Kovacs Foundation, the following
have participated in this project.
The Complutense and Autónoma Universities of Madrid.
The course was jointly organized by the Kovacs Foundation
and the Physical Education and Sports Medicine School of the
Complutense University and was self-financed by the registration
of the students.
Status.
25 students participated in the first edition. Given the
course's success and the high degree of satisfaction and sense
of its usefulness among the students, as reflected in the
questionnaires they filled out, there are plans to repeat
it annually.
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