What is the ‘Supporting Teachers, Strengthening Communities’ study? 

This project seeks to engage a group of teachers, educators, support officers, and student teachers to address the following goals:

1. Investigate the behaviours, experiences, and perspectives of teachers regarding priority health and wellbeing issues for both teachers and students.

2. Examine the effectiveness of health and wellbeing programs designed for teachers and students. 

Participants will have the opportunity to contribute to studies that assess the impacts of various health and wellbeing initiatives. 

The study is being conducted by Hunter New England Local Health District and the University of Newcastle.  

 

Who can participate in this study? 

Eligible participants include:   

• Casual, permanent, or full-time teachers, educators, and/or support officers currently employed at early childhood centres, primary, secondary or central schools across NSW.   
• Preservice teachers and educators studying early childhood, primary or secondary qualifications across NSW and are in their final year of study. 

When will this study run? 

Recruitment will be conducted between 2023 and 2027. Surveys will be administered intermittently to participants who are part of the cohort during this time.   

Is there a cost to participating in the study?  

Participation in this study will not cost participants anything.   

What are the risks and benefits of participating? 

Risks: There are no significant foreseeable risks to participants.  

Benefits: The data will be used by Hunter New England Health Local Health District, and the University of Newcastle to identify priority health and wellbeing issues for teachers and students. This in turn, will allow researchers at Hunter New England Health to develop, implement and evaluate appropriate and feasible health and wellbeing programs, and supports required for effective policy and program implementation. In addition, participants may have the opportunity to participate in studies to test the impacts of health and wellbeing initiatives.  

What will participants be asked to do if they agree to participate in the study? 

After consent has been received, participants will be asked to complete an initial survey (approx.10 minutes) via email, text message, or phone that will ask questions relating to their demographic information, student and teacher experiences, and health behaviours (e.g., physical activity, water consumption, fruit and vegetable intake etc.). In this survey, participants will be asked if they consent for the research team to invite them to participate in future surveys as part of their involvement in the study. Surveys will be administered intermittently between 2023 and 2027 to consented participants.  

How long will it take me to complete the surveys? 

Surveys could take anywhere from just a few minutes to approximately 20-minutes each.   

How is participants’ privacy protected? 

All the information collected from participants for the study will be treated confidentially, and only the researchers involved in this study will have access to it.  The study results may be presented at conferences or in scientific publications, but individual participants or schools will not be identifiable in any presentation or publication. The data may be used in student research and may be provided on appropriate request in de-identified form to other researchers / stakeholders. Any information will be stored electronically in a confidential file on a password-protected computer web server and back-up discs will be stored in a lockable cabinet. Your personal information will be accessed, used and stored in accordance with Commonwealth Privacy Laws and the NSW Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.   

If a participant decides to withdraw from the study at any stage, we will be able to delete any data that has been collected. Withdrawing will not disadvantage the participant. Access to de-identified trial data, protocols and analysis code will be made available within 6 months of publication and/or within 18 months of trial completion. 

How will study findings be reported?

Evidence from this study will be available to inform Hunter New England Population Health, NSW Ministry of Health and other key stakeholder policy and practice decisions regarding school-based interventions.   De-identified data will be published in scientific journals, presented at professional conferences and summaries will be provided to participants. Participants will then be encouraged to share this de-identified summary data with the community. 

What do I do if I wish to participate? 

If you would like to participate in this program, please click on the link below to complete the online consent form and initial online survey.

How do I get in contact with the research team? 

The project team are available to discuss the study with you further and answer any questions you may have. If you have further questions, or you would like more information, please do not hesitate to email our team: hnelhd-supportingteachers@health.nsw.gov.au