The Evaluation of a Cardiovascular School Health Curriculum: An Assessment of Long‐Term Cognitive Retention and Attitudinal Correlates

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A Cardiovascular School Health Curriculum was evaluated to assess its long-term impact on students' cognitive retention and attitudinal correlates. Analysis, of the data showed that the students who had received the special cardiovascular curriculum had a higher knowledge level six months after the curriculum than did the control group. The primary differences between the two groups were in the major emphasis of the curriculum; thus, providing confidence in the impact of the program. Differences in attitudes toward cardiovascular disease risk and control were not found. Since 1975, researchers in the Division of Education of the National Heart and Blood Vessel Research Demonstration Center (NRDC) of Baylor College of Medicine have developed and evaluated educational programs designed for secondary school health education. This developmental process produced a cardiovascular school health curriculum with nine self-instructional units focused on the heart and circulatory system, cardiovascular diseases, risk factors of cardiovascular disease and warning signs of heart attack and stroke. These units were augmented with a teacher's guide, classroom activities, audiovisual resources, homework assignments and achievement tests to form a two-week health education program. The curriculum has been evaluated in a variety of settings and by several methods.1–3 The results of these studies were positive in that the curriculum significantly increased the knowledge levels of those students who participated in the program. Additionally, as a result of the program, the participants had more positive attitudes toward preventing and controlling cardiovascular disease. Although the results of the evaluative studies were positive, the researchers were concerned about the student's retention of knowledge and related attitudes. This paper will present results of an assessment of the impact of the curriculum on students' knowledge and attitudes six months after its completion.