Table 3 SWITCH® Quality Elements and Best Practices (i.e., Implementation Strategies) with purpose/rationale

SWT weekly meetings

Meeting as a SWT to plan upcoming activities and implementation; discuss problematic areas

Facilitate online tracking through website

Practicing self-management of health behavior helps students to be mindful of their behaviors and set goals for their own health

Promote student leadership of wellness

Developing a group of student wellness leaders/ambassadors enhances program implementation and may provide students with peer role models for health behavior

Integration of SWITCH across school environment

Using promotional posters to engage students and staff in each setting, use of modules in each setting, and communication with staff outside of the SWT enhances reach and promotion of wellness programs

Communicate wellness efforts to parents

Web-based parent platform linked parents to their student(s) enrolled in SWITCH. Parents could view child’s behavior tracking, enter healthy activities performed at home (“Switches”), view weekly information about creating healthy home environments, and receive SWITCH / healthy updates from the school, helping to transfer lessons learned to the home setting.

Best Practice (classroom, lunchroom, physical education)

 Modules

Short lesson plans (i.e., warmups, brain breaks, learning activities) to engage students in physical activity while learning about health & wellness.

 Posters

Interactive posters to track Do, View, and Chew activities completed by students across the school settings. In lunchroom and physical education, posters display trivia questions and weekly fun facts related to themes.

Reinforcement of Themes

Utilizing online website for student self-monitoring, use in discussion activities in modules, and making structural changes (i.e., posters, lunchroom modifications). Strategies to help teachers and students learn about health and wellness through a dialectic approach.