The Salut Child-Health Intervention Programme

Project description

The Salute Programme is a health initiative for children and adolescents in Västerbotten. The programme was initiated in 2005 by the Västerbotten County Council in response to increased prevalence of overweight, obesity and tooth decay in children and adolescents in the county. The initiative aims to develop and strengthen health promotion interventions in maternity care, Child Health, dental care, kindergartens and schools and is based on the interaction between them. The main focus areas in the programme are: Conditions during childhood and adolescence, Physical activity and Eating habits.

The goal with the programme is to support each child and their parents throughout childhood, starting during pregnancy when the child is still unborn. The initiative takes its name from the word "salutogenic" as a basic concept is to promote processes that give children and their parents an opportunity to increase control over their health and ability to improve health. The initiative includes both health promotion and disease prevention that seeks equality in health.

The Salute Programme is divided into seven modules, based on the child ages. The interventions within each module are prioritized based on those factors that are most important during that specific part of the child's life.

The module specific interventions was developed in four pilot areas selected to represent different geographic areas of the county and to characterize different population structure in northern Sweden. The Salut Programme is integrated within care-as-usual, and comprises strengthening and restructuring of care-as-usual, and new specific interventions. Professionals in antenatal care, child health care, dental care and open pre-schools are collaborating during the child’s first years of life. Following countywide implementation, an evaluation showed significant improvements in professionals’ health promotion practices and in collaboration across sectors.