Iodoprophylaxis for schools

The aim of this health education project is to raise awareness among students and their families on the importance of a correct sodium intake since childhood, highlighting the central role played by teachers and the student body in disseminating the culture of prevention. It is the first experience with a partnership between institutions, scientific societies and associations of patients on preventing iodine-deficiency disorders (IDDs). The project is part of the activities envisaged in a Protocol of Understanding between the MIUR and ISS, the Italian Thyroid Association (AIT), the Italian Association of Clinical Endocrinologists - Associazione Medici Endocrinologi (AACE/AME), the Italian Society of Endocrinology, the Italian Society of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology (ISPED) and the Committee of Endocrine Patients’ Associations for the 2016-2019 three school years. 
All the information is available online at: http://www.iss.it/osnami.

Target: primary and lower and upper secondary school teachers and students  
Products: digital and multimedia material

Digital and multimedia material
The project envisages a cascade effect enabled through the teacher’s self-teaching process (through the material available on the OSNAMI-ISS website) who will then transfer the information to the students who will in turn disseminate the notions learned to their families and acquaintances. The site contains instruments available to teachers: 

• information sheet on iodoprophylaxis, compiled by teachers before beginning the educational programme  
• set of slides, educational material for teachers on iodine deficiency in diets and iodoprophylaxis in Italy
• explication sheet, additional and more detailed information to supplement the set of slides. 
• student learning evaluation worksheets 
• evaluation worksheet on the effectiveness of the educational programme, developed to obtain the teachers’ evaluation on the impact that this project will have on their students  

Developed in 2015 and used by approximately 10,000 students in the 2017-2018 school years, 
it is still usable and available.
The initiatives promoted by the signatories of the Protocol also include the presence of an endocrinologist to support educational activities in schools.

Organization of Reference: Department of Cardiovascular, Endocrine-Metabolic Diseases and Aging.  
Contact person: Antonella Olivieri