Model project: Organizational health literacy for kindergartens and preschools for children

The project “Heath Literate Health Region Bavaria (Gesundheitskompetente Gesundheitsregionen^plus in Bayern (GeKoRegio-Bayern))“ aims at developing an organizational health literacy concept for the preschool and kindergarten setting. The project will be carried in collaboration with the coordination office of the Bavarian „Gesundheitsregion^plus“ in the Neu-Ulm region. As a health literate institution, this setting approach enables preschools and kindergartens to promote health literacy among children, staff, and parents.

In order to achieve the project goal, a guide for health literate kindergartens and preschools will be developed. This guide will lean on already existing concepts for organizational health literacy such as the “HeLit-Schools” guide and is intended to define standards and indicators for health literate kindergartens and preschools. This allows institutions to manage their own development towards a health literate preschool and kindergarten and evaluate themselves with a self-assessment tool. The project is based on participatory research. Professionals working in kindergartens, pedagogy, and the regional administration will participate in workshops and actively engage in developing the guide. In addition, two measurements on health literacy of the staff will be carried out (2023 and 2024). A project advisory board will be involved in the research process to ensure the fit with already existing health promotion projects within the Gesundheitsregion^plus.