Das Projekt „Gesundheitschamps – wir wissen um unsere Gesundheit Bescheid“

Social inequalities in health and health literacy become evident in childhood and adolescence. There is a paucity of programmes aimed at enhancing health literacy among children and adolescents with special needs (e.g. support needs). Against this background, the Gesundheitschamps—wir wissen um unsere Gesundheit Bescheid project was developed.

This paper addresses three key areas: firstly, it provides an overview of programmes in the field of health literacy enhancement for students with special needs; secondly, it presents the study and evaluation design of the Gesundheitschamps intervention; and thirdly, it considers the requirements for the Gesundheitschamps intervention to promote health and health literacy in a way that is appropriate for the target group, taking into account the use of appropriate methods and implementation modes.

To create an overview of the current state of research, a literature search was conducted in selected databases and project registers (objective 1). A longitudinal study with a mixed-methods design (running from 2023–2026) is being developed and tested to enhance the health literacy of secondary school students, with a focus on learning disabilities and intellectual development and taking into account a high degree of participation (objective 2). To identify the requirements for interventions aimed at improving health literacy among students with special needs, initial results from comparable studies are analysed, which is supplemented by an overview of participatory methods for children and adolescents (objective 3).

The literature review reveals a significant lack of suitable programmes for the target group that consider participation and a peer-to-peer approach to enhancing health literacy. The Gesundheitschamps intervention contributes to enhancement of the knowledge and action competencies of students with special needs in key areas of national prevention guidelines (Leitfaden Prävention), including [mental] health literacy, nutrition, exercise and substance use. The specific needs of the target group require implementation of distinctive didactic and methodological approaches.