School Health Services

• Services from medical, teaching and other professionals applied in or out of school to improve the health and well-being of children and in some cases whole families
• The SHP usually implement four pillars for Health Promoting Schools:
1. Health promoting school policies
2. Safe and healthy learning environment
3. Skills-based health education, and
4. School-based health and nutrition services

• Over 2.3 billion school age children spend one third of their time in schools.
• Schools therefore constitute a unique setting to help children and adolescents to develop a positive outlook on life and help them establish healthy lifestyles.
• Yet global mortality and morbidity estimates in children and adolescents suggest that school aged children have significant needs for health promotion, prevention and health care services
• Health of children and their learning are reciprocally related.
• Unhealthy child has a difficult time learning
• Unhealthy child can be disruptive to others
• School programs included in Health People 2010
• Not a panacea

Goal 1: Ensure access to primary health care.

Goal 2: Provide a system for dealing with crisis medical situations.

Goal 3: Provide mandated screening and immunization monitoring.

Goal 4: Provide systems for identification and solution of students' health and educational problems.

Goal 5: Provide comprehensive and appropriate health education.

Goal 6: Provide a healthful and safe school environment that facilitates learning.

Goal 7: Provide a system of evaluation of the effectiveness of the school health program.

• School health education - physical education
• Health services - school nutrition
• School environment - family and community
• Counselling - health promotion
• Psychological and social services

Primary role is to provide coordination of the various component of the coordinated school health program.

School nurse

• Maintain and review birth records
• Dispense medications
• Train others
• Conduct health follow-ups
• Help develop school health policies
• Identify students with medical problems
• Identify community health resources

Teacher’s role

• Instruction
• Services
• School living
• Coordination

• Administration and Organization
• School Health Services
• Health appraisals
• Emergency services
• Prevention & control of communicable diseases,
• Healthful School Environment
• Physical
• Psychosocial
• Health Education
• Includees all health education in the schools

• Direct
• Health is taught as a separate discipline
• Correlated
• Health is taught as part of other disciplines, i.e., science, home economics or physical education
• Integrated
• Health is the vehicle through which other disciplines are taught

• Comprehensive school health programs
• Research shows programs work - however they are not in place in all schools although the need is strong
• Controversy
• Based on differing values & religious teachings & over the proper implementing of the curriculum
• School-based clinics/School linked clinics
• Offer comprehensive health services, have met with resistance in certain communities
• Violence in Schools
• Risk factors need to be identified