Eurochild: Health assets can be key for children and young people’s well-being
This week Eurochild, together with the Alliance for Childhood and the Universal Education Foundation, facilitated a second session in the European Parliament dedicated to child well-being indicators.
Antony Morgan, visiting professor at the Glasgow Caledonian University, London Campus, represented the HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children) research network and talked about an asset-based approach to health and well-being. (His presentation is available here.)
The principles of an asset-based approach include:
- Emphasise those assets (any resource, skill or knowledge) which enhance the ability of individuals, families and neighbourhoods to sustain health and wellbeing.
- Instead of starting with the problems, start with what is working and what people care about.
- Ensure programmes include the need to build networks, friendships, self-esteem and feelings of personal and collective effectiveness which are already known to be good for health and well-being.
The Asset Model put forward by Morgan and Ziglio (2010) provides a systematic framework for thinking about how best to measure and evaluate asset based approaches and provides the starting point for a new set of indicators for policy and practice.
Members of the European Parliament Marie Arena and Jana Zitnanska supported this meeting, which offered an opportunity to put pressure on the European institutions to bring the political focus of attention to children’s well-being. Indicators play an important role in that, as they can provide the direction for evidence-based policy developments.
For more information please contact Eurochild’s Agata D’Addato.
