Five years on: analysis of university lecturers’ experiences of the French government’s health promotion education program

Abstract Background The National Health Promotion Intervention Program by Student (HPIPS) is a French government educational program introduced in 2018, aiming at developing all health students’ health promotion knowledge and abilities, as well as implementing health promotion interventions for specific subpopulations in the general public. Its pedagogical framework was elaborated in 2018 and then evaluated by the French Council for Public Health in 2022, highlighting certain difficulties for the program to be homogeneously implemented in France. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the experiences and feedback of university lecturers in charge of this HPIPS training. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with HPIPS lecturers from various health fields and from French universities, and a qualitative content analysis was carried out. Results Fourteen interviews were conducted during the autumn of 2022 with HPIPS program university lecturers including five doctors, three dentists, two nurses, two pharmacists, one midwife, and one physiotherapist from eight different towns belonging to six regions. Depending on the professional background, the component, and the local resources available, the teaching experience varied from one lecturer to another. A number of difficulties arose in setting up this educational program and complying with the latter legislation. The work overload was considerable, and the lecturers’ heavy commitments some lecturers to be discouraged, especially since some lecturers were not trained in health promotion abilities. Although interprofessionality was a strength of this HPIPS, it was also its main challenge. Pedagogical innovations were developed, notably through the use of digital technology; cross-disciplinary collaboration was established; and lecturers–students specific boundaries have emerged thanks to this health promotion project. Conclusions In France, setting up the HPIPS rapidly was experienced as a real pedagogical challenge for the interviewed university lecturers. While most of them noted the positive and beneficial contributions made by the introduction of prevention and health promotion intervention skills for health students, they also shared recommendations in order to match the ambitions and increase the HPIPS impact on the development of a culture of prevention and health promotion among health students.