From Education Accord Co-Chairs, Dr. Karen Goodnough and Dr. Anne Burke

According to the World Health Organization (2024), “there is ample evidence that social factors, including education, employment status, income level, gender and ethnicity have a marked influence on how healthy a person is.” Education and health outcomes are closely connected with health outcomes affecting the quality of and access to education at all levels. Positive health outcomes can affect education by improving school absenteeism, engagement in learning, cognitive functioning, nutrition, and learning overall. As well, good health outcomes can positively influence health behaviours such as regular exercise, healthy eating, and preventative medical care; enhance access to health care resources; and foster improved social and psychological benefits. Overall, better health outcomes can improve the education levels of individuals and society, thus contributing to social equity and stability and economic growth. Conversely, higher levels of education often result in positive health outcomes as well-educated individuals are better positioned to access health care and advocate for themselves. Improving education outcomes requires an acknowledgement that education outcomes and health outcomes are synergistic, and interact in complex ways.

The Education Accord NL (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 2024) has a focus on four major areas: early learning and child development, education engagement and transformation, health and well-being in education environments, and post-secondary education and learning across the lifespan. By recognizing the important influence of health outcomes on education outcomes at all levels from early learning to seniors, Education Accord NL will provide a pathway to modernize and transform education over the next 10 years. This transformation will necessitate the adoption of policies and practices aimed at improving education and health outcomes simultaneously in order to achieve optimal benefits for all. Foundational to transformation is ensuring Newfoundland and Labrador has high quality, accessible, and inclusive early learning and K-12 education systems. With a focus on the social determinants of health in education environments, an integrated, comprehensive approach to education can be achieved.