Implementation Outcomes and Impact of a School Health and Wellness Network Specialist Intervention in Chicago Public Schools.
Objectives: To evaluate implementation, impact, and cost-effectiveness of a Network Specialist intervention focused on health and wellness policy implementation in Chicago Public Schools. Education sector (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) and implementation science (Implementation Outcomes Framework...
| Published in: | Journal of Public Health Management & Practice Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 467 - 477 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
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Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Jul/Aug2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=193835845&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 193835845 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 10784659 0O3 jtl: Journal of Public Health Management & Practice issn: 10784659 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul/Aug2026 vid: 32 iid: 4 pid: 5086 pub: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins place: Baltimore, Maryland artinfo: ui: 193835845 193835845 193835845 10.1097/PHH.0000000000002350 193835845 ppf: 467 ppct: 10 formats: tig: atl: Implementation Outcomes and Impact of a School Health and Wellness Network Specialist Intervention in Chicago Public Schools. aug: au: Chriqui, Jamie F. Leider, Julien Jarpe-Ratner, Elizabeth Offstein, Madison Lin, Yu Chen Zolfo, Sean Simon, Jeremiah Tully, Jamie DeClemente, Tarrah affil: Author Affiliations: Division of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (Drs Chriqui and Jarpe-Ratner, Ms Offstein) sug: subj: Schools Illinois School Health Services School Policies Wellness Program Implementation Program Evaluation Human Illinois Schools, Elementary Quasi-Experimental Studies Multimethod Studies Case Studies Comparative Studies Descriptive Statistics Data Analysis Software Cost Effectiveness Analysis Linear Regression Costs and Cost Analysis Pilot Studies Guideline Adherence Health Promotion Health Policy Academic Performance Funding Source ab: Objectives: To evaluate implementation, impact, and cost-effectiveness of a Network Specialist intervention focused on health and wellness policy implementation in Chicago Public Schools. Education sector (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) and implementation science (Implementation Outcomes Framework, SISTER) frameworks informed the intervention. Design: Quasi-experimental case-comparison efficacy study conducted between 2020–2021 and 2022–2023. Annual survey data and key informant interviews were used to evaluate implementation outcomes (acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility); survey and administrative data were used to assess impact and cost effectiveness using difference-in-difference (DID) analyses and an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Setting: One elementary school Network located on Chicago's Westside (intervention) and 1 socio-demographically matched comparison Network (DID only). Participants: Network Specialists, school-level stakeholders, and school-level administrative data. Intervention: The Network Specialist provided a multi-tiered system of support to schools for health and wellness policy implementation. Main Outcome Measure: Healthy CPS score (out of 100) and ICER. Results: The Specialist served 20 schools/year and an average of 302 students/school. At least 85% of school stakeholders perceived high levels of acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of working with the Specialist to support policy implementation. Schools in the intervention Network increased their Healthy CPS scores by 8 percentage points (70.95% pre vs. 78.95% post; P =.03), whereas scores stayed the same in the comparison network (74.03% pre vs. 73.03% post; P =.68), for an estimated 9-percentage point DID-estimated impact (P =.04). The cost-effectiveness analysis indicated that it cost each school $414, on average, to increase their Healthy CPS score by 1 percentage-point. Conclusions: Having a designated district-level Specialist to provide multi-tiered supports to schools to help with health and wellness policy implementation is cost-effective and is valued and appreciated by schools. The Specialist connects schools to key resources and services which enables them to improve their school-level implementation of federal, state and local health and wellness policy requirements. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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