School-based
clinics keep uninsured kids healthy
|
School-based
clinics keep uninsured kids healthy
|
|
By Sona Sharma It happens often enough. A second-grader writhes in agony because of a stomach ache. A fourth-grader droops with weakness because of a bout of diarrhea. Yet another student is tormented by a nasty asthma attack. What do school officials do when faced with such situations? Often, they send the sick child home—with no guarantee of whether the student will ever make the trip to see a healthcare professional. But with an increasing number of full-service healthcare clinics being established on school grounds, teachers and administrators now have a better alternative. These centers offer timely treatment, keeping children from missing school because of minor ailments. They also ensure that the children’s healthcare needs are taken care of before they become full-blown illnesses. "If the clinic was not there, the school would call 911 and the kid would go to the emergency room," said Cecilia Mendoza, LVN, who works at a school-based health clinic in the Elizabeth Learning Center in Cudahy, Texas. "This brings up a large bill for the parents. A lot of kids need to have accessible health care as their parents are afraid to go to the hospital because of the bills." Staying a step ahead Most school-based health centers include the services of nurses, social workers, and medical assistants. Centers for older students often offer mental health and family planning services, while others provide violence and drug abuse prevention programs. In addition, some clinics even keep track of immunizations and conduct full physical exams. And while most centers can prescribe medicines, some are able to dispense medication, too. Parents and guardians are always involved in the healthcare process, according to school officials. In addition to being required to sign consent forms, they are also asked to provide medical histories for their children. However, sometimes information is kept from parents, such as an older student’s inquiries about birth control or a request for a pregnancy test. Filling a need With the number of uninsured children in the United States estimated at about 10 million, many communities, school boards, and hospitals are starting to pool their resources and raise funds to start school-based health clinics. "There is a mainstream desire to provide kids treatment on the site and return them to classrooms," said John Schlitt, executive director of the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care in Washington, D.C. In 1998 there were 1,157 school health clinics in the United States, compared with only 900 in 1996, according to Making the Grade, a national Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program working to establish state and local partnerships to start and maintain school-based health centers. Jane Koppelman, deputy director of Making the Grade, said that about 40 percent of the children visiting school-based health clinics are uninsured. "Even when kids do have coverage, the utilization is not as good as it should be, especially for preventive care," Koppelman said. This could be for various reasons including a lack of transportation, said Nancy Shardell, RN, director of San Jose School Health Centers. "Most of these families are struggling to provide the basic needs of food and shelter to their kids," Shardell said. "And for them health care does not become a primary need unless a child is really ill and it is an emergency situation." School-based clinics also prove beneficial for the working poor who either don’t qualify for Medicaid or don’t get time off from work to take their children to the hospital, experts say. Paying for it The downside to school-based health clinics is the huge price tag. And the onus of raising funds often falls on the community. The yearly cost for running a clinic can range from $53,000 (for a two-day-a-week clinic in an elementary school) to $150,000 (for a full-time high school clinic), Shardell said. While most financial support comes from private donations, some clinics are also funded through government programs such as Healthy Families and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Despite the cost, the need for such programs is strongly felt. According to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, there are 1.74 million uninsured children in California. And with only 92 such clinics in the state, that’s not nearly enough to fulfill the healthcare needs of the children, Shardell said. The right direction While most experts believe that school-based health clinics are not the only solution to providing health care for children, they agree that it is a step in the right direction. To Michael Burgmaier, senior health policy associate for Children Now, a children’s advocacy organization, such clinics make good sense. "School-based clinics are definitely one way to provide health care for children who don’t have insurance," he said. "What’s important is that they are providing healthcare services in locations where students are and where they will go." |
|
|
Previous
Stories Secrets
of the dead It takes a community Increasing access to health care in California Wash
Out Examining
A computer, the Web and an ethical dilemma Medical
Records Back
to
School Electronic
Patient Records Assisted
Suicide Shattering the myths about forensic nursing Rural
Technology |
|
|
Related Sites |
|
