Fields of change: health promotion policy in periphery schools

This study examines how health promotion policies are enacted in three public schools in Israel’s southern periphery, highlighting how intersecting socioeconomic and ethno-geographic disadvantages shape their implementation. A multi-site qualitative design included semi-structured interviews with principals, teachers, parents, and health coordinators, alongside student focus groups. Using Bourdieu’s concepts of field and capital, combined with an intersectionality lens, the study finds that policy outcomes depend less on formal directives and more on the presence of local social agents whose habitus enables the practical mobilization of capital. In the absence of such agents, implementation remained largely symbolic, whereas empowered actors translated systemic disadvantage into meaningful health promotion practices.