Innovative Health Promotion in Primary Schools - The Care Aware Crew Programme (2022 – current)

he Care Aware Crew programme is a collaborative, interactive educational resource designed for 3rd and 4th class primary school pupils to support their health education. Schools register for the free programme and can choose to complete educational packages in First Aid, The Human Body and Wellbeing. Teachers receive the teaching videos delivered by a healthcare professional and pupils receives workbooks for each lesson. The teacher plays the video which has prompts for learning and engagement, and the pupils complete the worksheet corresponding to the lesson. Once the lessons are complete, the pupils have an opportunity to showcase their learning through art, drama, essay writing and awareness activities. This is at the teacher’s discretion thereby allowing them to utilise the resource to meet the various teaching curricula outcomes.

This project tackles the absence of healthcare education opportunities for 3rd and 4th class pupils in Irish primary schools. Despite a robust Social, Personal, and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum, there's a gap in practical health promotion and engagement with healthcare professionals. Currently, schools rely on paid commercial suppliers or voluntary agencies for first aid training, neglecting active pupil participation. By offering engaging, informative resources directly from healthcare professionals, the project bridges this gap, empowering pupils to become active participants in their health education. Through interactive learning experiences and exposure to various healthcare careers, the programme enhances pupils' understanding of healthcare while fostering positive relationships between schools and healthcare professionals.

Health Sciences Academy, HSE Mid West, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB)

The project launched in 2022 across six schools in the Midwest, including Gaelscoileanna, DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools, rural, urban, single-sex, and mixed institutions. Expanding from this initial phase, we extended the program to 13 schools in 2023, securing philanthropic funding for new video content. In 2024, strategic expansion of the Care Aware Crew pilot programme continued and lessons were delivered in 16 schools to upwards of 700 pupils. Aiming for long-term sustainability, the Steering Committee secured €88,700 for programme development following a successful HSE Spark Impact bid. This funding enabled the Steering Committee to make Care Aware Crew educational materials available to every primary school in the Mid-West region and over 1000 students participated in 2024 with national roll-out pending in 2026. Programme evaluation is ongoing led by Dr. Niamh Cummins (School of Medicine) and Dr Jennifer MacMahon (School of Psychology)