Welcome to the School-based interventions Community of Practice (CoP). We are a group of LSHTM staff, students, and collaborators who develop, implement and/or evaluate school-based interventions. School-based interventions include but are not limited to health, well-being, nutrition and WASH.

School-based interventions have great potential to contribute towards the achievement of national and global goals such as the Sustainable Development Goals. Implementing and evaluating school-based interventions, especially health and wellbeing-focused interventions, and non-education interventions, necessitates inter-sectoral collaboration and involve methodological challenges.

Our aims in setting up the School-based interventions CoP

1. To share experiences and lessons learnt on the design and implementation of school-based interventions which necessitate intersectoral collaboration
2. To highlight methodological challenges associated with the evaluation of school-based interventions and to identify best practices for design/analysis
3. To identify opportunities for collaboration, dissemination, and translation of research findings into policy

Our core themes

• Intervention content
• Methodology and evaluation
• Intersectoral collaboration and engagement with policy makers

Here are some of the school-based studies that we are involved in:

Y-Check

Dr. Aoife Doyle (Aoife.doyle@lshtm.ac.uk)

Meniscus

Prof. Helen Weiss (helen.weiss@lshtm.ac.uk)

Please keep in touch with these pages to see our work and opportunities to collaborate.

Upcoming events

Workshop series

Details of upcoming events will be added here when available.

The Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition is a global, multi-sectoral partnership of academic, scientific and technical institutions, and individuals, that aims to promote quality research on the health, nutrition, well-being, education and development of school-age children and adolescents. The Consortium was created to support the objectives of the School Meals Coalition, an initiative led by a group of member states and partners to ensure that every child has the opportunity to receive a healthy, nutritious meal in school by 2030.

Workshop 7: Exploring Causal Mechanisms in School Health Interventions: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches (7 December 2022)

The School-Based Interventions Special Interest Group, a collaboration between the Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition and the MARCH Centre, hosted a seminar exploring causal mechanisms in the process evaluation of school health interventions, with insights on both quantitative and qualitative approaches from researchers evaluating two whole-school programmes.

Kate Nelson, Research Fellow at LSHTM, shared her insights from planning quantiative approaches to process evaluation within the MENISCUS trial. The trial will evaluate the impact of a school-based menstrual health intervention in Uganda.

Emily Warren, Assistant Professor at LSHTM, discussed her experiences with the INCLUSIVE cluster RCT, which was the first ever realist RCT. Evaluating the Learning Together project, this evaluation used mixed methods to unpick what worked for whom, under what conditions, and how. This presentation will focus on the qualitative methods used to develop hypotheses about mechanisms.

The session concluded with an audience Q&A.

Workshop 6: Implementation and evaluation of comprehensive school-based services: Two innovative programmes in Zimbabwe and Zambia (10 October 2022)

This session explored how comprehensive school-based health interventions can address some of the major health challenges faced by school-age children in low- and middle-income settings.

Representatives from Y-Check, a multi-partner initiative involving researchers from LSHTM based in Zimbabwe, discussed their work providing routine health and well-being check-ups for young people to improve the prevention, early identification and treatment of key health issues.  

This was followed by a talk from representatives from Healthy Learners, an initiative based in Zambia focused on keeping children healthy through school-based interventions to optimize their ability to learn and ultimately reach their full potential.  

The session concluded with a Q&A session, where we are delighted to be joined by Malalu Mulundika, Director of School Health and Nutrition for the Government of Zambia.

About the Speakers

Aoife Doyle is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at LSHTM. Her research focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of interventions to improve adolescent health and well-being. She holds a UK Research & Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship (2021-25) and is currently based at THRU ZIM in Harare, Zimbabwe where she is the Principal Investigator on the Y-Check initiative.

Farirai Nzvere is a Master of Public Health at Edinburgh University and the study coordinator on the Y-Check initiative. He is also a part-time PhD student at LSHTM.

Lonnie Hackett is President and co-founder of Healthy Learners. Lonnie is a Truman Scholar and a Draper Richards Kaplan Social Entrepreneur. This past year, he was recognized on Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Social Impact. Lonnie graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in Biochemistry and received a Masters in International Health and Tropical Medicine from the University of Oxford. 

Catherine Samiselo is the Director of Partnerships at Healthy Learners. She has more than 25 years’ experience implementing and managing public health programs. Prior to joining  Healthy Learners, she served for five years as Deputy Chief of Party for the USAID funded Zambia Rising Project. Before that, Catherine served for five years as an advisor for World Vision. Catherine received her undergraduate degree in Community Education from Huddersfield University and her Master’s in Public Health from Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom.

Malalu Muchengwa Mulundika is the Director of School Health and Nutrition for the Ministry of Education in Zambia.  Malalu Mulundika is a distinguished civil servant who started her career nearly 30 years ago as a secondary school teacher. In the time that has followed, she has worked in progressively more senior roles for the Government of Zambia, including as Director of Human Resources and Administration for the Ministry of Gender and Child Development and as Assistant Director of Scholarships and Technical Assistance for the Ministry of Education. Mrs. Mulundika holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of Zambia and a Master’s Degree in Management of Development from the University of Turin. 

Watch the recording.

Workshop 5: The WHO/UNESCO 2021 school health guidelines (21 April 2022)

This workshop focused on the 2021 WHO/UNESCO school health guidelines.

• Valentina Baltag (WHO)
• Emilie Sidaner and Parviz Abduvahobov (UNESCO)
• David Ross (independent consultant)

Watch the recording.

Workshop 4: Strengthening evidence on benefits of school health and nutrition interventions to inform policy action and investment priorities (26 January 2022)

LSHTM staff and collaborators participated in this seminar introducing the School Meals Coalition, the Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition, and the work of the Consortium's Communities of Practice.

Three key areas of research were explored during the seminar:

• Value-for-money of school meals
• The effect of school food on learning-adjusted years of schooling
• The current evidence and impact of school health interventions

Watch the recording.

Workshop 3: Design and analysis (27 January 2021)

This workshop focused on the study design and statistical analysis of school-based studies.

Topic 1: LSHTM staff and collaborators presented examples of theories of change (TOC) for multicomponent and multi-sectoral interventions

• Liz Allen: Mediation Analysis to Explore Causal Mechanisms in Trials of Complex Interventions
• Clare Tanton: Applying causal mediation analysis to evaluate complex school-based interventions to improve menstrual health

Topic 2: Statistical issues in trial design

• Sarah Bick: Statistical issues in the design and analysis of a Clustered Randomised trial - WASH In Schools for Everyone (WISE)
• Philip Ayieko: Cohort versus cross-sectional design in a school-based menstrual hygiene study in Tanzania LSHTM staff and collaborators presented examples of theories of change (TOC) for multicomponent and multi-sectoral interventions
• Baptiste Leurent: Next steps (breakout groups) and closure

Workshop 2: Outcomes (26 November 2020)

This workshop focused on the measurement of multi-sectoral outcomes including health and educational impact.

Topic 1: LSHTM staff and collaborators presented examples of theories of change (TOC) for multicomponent and multi-sectoral interventions

• Jenny Renju:  PASS Impact Evaluation TOC
• Helen Weiss: Meniscus Impact Evaluation TOC
• Donald Bundy: School Feeding TOC

Chaired discussion on key outcomes anticipated, and in particular how/whether health outcomes might lead to outcomes in other sectors, especially education.

Topic 2: New Metrics, with a focus on LAYS (Learning adjusted Years of Schooling) the metric that has emerged as the comparative metric of choice in the education sector

• Noam Angrist: LAYs in a nutshell, a summary of the essential features
• Sian Clarke and Noam Angrist: Estimating LAYS for malaria
• Sarah Mulwa and Noam Angrist: Estimating LAYS for DREAMS Impact Assessment
• Katherine Halliday: HALI Impact Evaluation TOC

Workshop 1: The kinds of Interventions that are implemented in schools (4 November 2020)

LSHTM staff and collaborators presented on existing and planned school-based projects:

• Siddharudha Shivalli and Diana Elbourne: Educational and health interventions in the CHAMPION2/STRIPES2 trial in Madhya Pradesh, India- practical implications working with multiple stakeholders
• Stefan Witek- McManus: NoToNa: Integrating NCD prevention within education and health systems
• Jenny Renju: PASS MHW project - The rationale for and implications of NGO as opposed to teacher delivery of the intervention
• Sachin Shinde:  Who should deliver the intervention? Lessons from the SEHER trial, a multi-component whole-school health promotion intervention in schools in India
• Belen Torondel- Lopez: Use of formative research to design the MEGAMBO intervention to improve menstrual hygiene in schools in rural Gambia
• Jenny Renju: PASS MHW project- What are the merits and challenges of offering a choice of MHM products?
• Stefan Witek- McManus: NoToNa: A school-based approach for community-wide NCD prevention