Formation of a Health-Promoting Educational Environment in Higher Education Institutions: Normative and Practical Aspects

Abstract

Relevance. Under martial law, the issue of creating a health-promoting educational environment in higher education institutions of Ukraine has become particularly relevant due to increasing security risks, growing psycho-emotional stress, the widespread use of distance and blended learning formats, and the need to ensure the psychophysical well-being of participants in the educational process. Research Objective. to analyze the regulatory and legal foundations for the formation of a health-promoting educational environment in higher education institutions and to determine the level of practical implementation of its main components under martial law based on expert evaluation. Research Methods. theoretical analysis, generalization and systematization of regulatory documents and scientific literature, expert evaluation, and descriptive statistical methods. Research Results. The study established that Ukraine has developed a sufficiently comprehensive regulatory and legal framework governing the fundamental principles of creating a health-promoting educational environment in higher education institutions. It was found that the regulatory support encompasses safety, sanitary and hygienic, psychosocial, organizational, digital, and inclusive aspects of the educational environment. The results of the expert evaluation demonstrated a sufficient level of adaptation of higher education institutions to contemporary crisis and security challenges, particularly within the safety and organizational-regulatory components. At the same time, the psychosocial and digital components of the health-promoting educational environment were identified as the most vulnerable. This is associated with a high level of psycho-emotional burden, insufficiently systematic psychological support, and issues related to digital overload among participants in the educational process. The necessity of integrating health-promoting practices into the internal quality assurance system of higher education and improving institutional mechanisms for the development of a health-promoting educational environment in higher education institutions has been substantiated. Conclusion. Under martial law, the health-promoting educational environment acquires strategic importance as a component of higher education quality assurance, psychosocial safety, and the resilience of the educational system to contemporary crisis challenges.