The family and the school as health education communities

Human health is an integral, systematically organized whole covering the physical, mental, social and spiritual dimension. It is a condition of holistically understood wellbeing and a leading predictor of the quality of life. In the salutogenic approach, health is both: a potentiality of the human organism and a process of actualisation of that potentiality. Therefore human health is not entirely determined by purely biological factors. It depends as well on individual life-style dominated by health-friendly or health-destructive habits and behaviours. That means one has to learn how to preserve and develop his/her health (in the life-long perspective). Family and social environment at school significantly contribute to health education: that's where experiential learning occurs. The most effective health education takes place in the schools which become learning communities. "Health Promoting School Programme" is a good example of systemically coordinated actions based on variety of compatible forms of communal learning. The programme assumes measurable effects concerning knowledge, skills and attitudes not only in students but in all the members of the school-community including parents and institutional partners.