COVID-19 Outbreak and the Role of Schools in Promoting Community Health

Attention to health education in schools and its impact on improving the health of students, school staff and families were the basis of the initiative of health promoting schools (HPS). But nowadays incoronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak we sought to assess what should HPS do.

This analytical- review article.assessedhealth at schools andhealth promoting schools via keywords in Farsi in Iranian databases namely: SID, Magiran and Irandoc andin English in foreign databases namely: Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar articles.

Evaluation of health promoting schools' programsin Iran describedchallenges  in two levels: policy making and implementation. Eleven actions were introduced to support schools inachieving their goals.

Health promoting schools and its infrastructure have been established in Iran for many years.Despite shortcomings and weaknesses in planning and implementation of programs, it is expected that HPS choose a more active and responsible role in community health.For example,in the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak,schools take actions in the fields of hygiene education, preventive measures,andraise the awareness of students, their families and school staff.