Creative Associates International’s school and community health program builds on four decades of work in schools and societies to create healthy students and school environments, and stronger, more resilient communities.

Creative uses education as a starting point to affect community-wide health outcomes in Africa, Asia, Central America, and the Caribbean. By integrating health promotion into education development such as teacher training and curriculum design, Creative addresses the health needs of children, teachers and their communities in keeping with UNESCO’s Focus Resources on Effective School Health (FRESH) Framework and other leading guidelines.

Creative’s school-based health interven­tions build bridges between schools and health committees in the communities they serve. They also foster healthy behaviors and serve to improve the health status of all community members, including teach­ers, students, parents, religious and other community leaders.

Involving communities in school-community health committees ensures a cultural frame­work for sustainability, as well as organic capacity for long term management.

PROMOTING QUALITY HEALTH AND QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL

With a special commitment to serve the world’s most disadvantaged youth and communities, Creative’s school-community mobilization programs support vulnerable youth, especially those affected by HIV and AIDS, by providing life skills education and psychosocial services. Creative’s mul­ti-sector programs support at-risk youth to succeed in school and provide them with practical skills, including awareness of healthy hygiene, and reproductive health practices and services.

Because girls are often most disad­vantaged in access to health and nutri­tion services, school-aged girl children in particular benefit from Creative’s school health programs, which integrate nutrition education and micronutrient supplementa­tion into school and community life.

Moreover, integrating Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) into all aspects of school and community life through activi­ties such as installing gender-segregated WASH facilities allows Creative to increase ac­cess to education by overcoming barriers to female school enrollment while improv­ing community sanitation.

Through collaboration with govern­ments, these interventions often go even further—bolstering nationwide systems and policies that support good health, HIV prevention and mitigation services, and reduced youth vulnerability.