Awareness and Knowledge of School Wellness Committees is Low Among Rural K-12 Teachers and Staff

Objective To better understand awareness and knowledge of rural schoolteachers and staff regarding their wellness committees. Systems thinking was used to guide explorations of school wellness by examining multiple components of school systems. Design: Cross-sectional, observational study. An online survey was administered to examine understanding of school wellness policies and committees, including duties and who should promote school wellness in rural schools. Setting: Seven rural school districts in a single Midwestern state Participants: Teachers and staff members in rural schools Results Among 167 teachers and staff members, only 34.1% were aware of their wellness committee. Age (p = 0.01), the number of years at their current school (p = 0.02), higher education (compared to lower, p = 0.02), and the number of years teaching (teachers only, p < 0.01) were all positively associated with awareness of wellness committees. School nurses, health-related teachers, and food service staff were noted as frequent members of wellness committees and were preferred for potentially serving as wellness promoters in schools. Conclusions General wellness committee awareness is low, and efforts to enhance awareness may be needed in rural schools. Multiple school systems can be targeted to promote wellness, including health-related curricula, school nursing and food service staff.