Overview of the School Health Program

By Dr. O.O. Sekoni

A presentation given at the training workshop on Improving Child Health in Ibadan Primary Schools

May 9-13th 2012

• An effective school health programme can be one of the most cost effective investments a nation can make to simultaneously improve education and health.

• It is a strategic means to prevent important health risks among youth

• The components of the school health program can be described by a variety of models;

• The three component model• The eight component model• The full service model

Three Component Model

• The oldest model (1900s)• Considered the traditional model of a school

health program• Consists of the following– Health education– Health services– A healthful environment

• Health education– Provides critical health information to students

• Healthy school environment– This provides a building that is safe and conducive to

learning and a school climate that ensures that all feel safe, supported and free from harassment or surroundings that may be harmful to health

• Health services– Provide essential health care, enabling students to stay

healthy, prevent injuries and improve academic achievement

The Eight Component Model

• Developed in the 1980s• An expanded version of the three component

model• Referred to as a comprehensive school health

program• Consists of the following– Health education– Health services– Healthy school environment

– Physical education– Nutrition services– Health promotion for school staff– Counselling, psychological and social services– Parent and community involvement

• Physical education– This instructs students on how to be physically active for life

• Nutrition services– They provide a healthy nutrition environment, including good breakfast

and lunch programs• Health promotion for school staff

– Improves staff personal health behaviour and provides positive personal examples that reinforce positive student health behaviour

• Counselling, psychological and social services– School counselors, psychologists and social workers attend to students

mental health needs• Parent and community involvement

– Enables students to be supported by the larger community

Full Service Model

• Builds on previous models• Involves a one-stop seamless institution • School provides a wide range of health mental

health, social and/or family services– Quality education in addition to: – Support service e.g.

• Health and dental screening• Nutrition counselling and weight management• Crisis intervention and substance treatment and follow up

services

• No single model is the best• A school health program should be home

grown to reflect the needs, resources, perspectives and standards of the community

• Should involve all stakeholders

Who is the School Nurse?

• A unique nursing specialty• Often the lone health care professional in an

educational setting charged with the task of meeting the complex health needs of children

• Can be defined as a specialized practice of professional nursing that advances the well being, academic success and life- long achievement of students

Standards of Professional School Nursing Practice

• Professional school nurses have an obligation to provide the highest quality of care within their specialty area

• Standards of practice represent agreed upon levels of quality in practice and reflect the values and priorities of the profession

• Standards of nursing practice may be established by national and specialty nursing roganizations

• Professional nurses are accountable to their employers for work place practices

• This may create conflict in the practice of school nursing because of discrepancies between the laws that govern education and those of the practice of nursing

• The standards of school nursing practice are written within a framework of the nursing process and include data collection, nursing diagnosis, planning, intervention and evaluation

What does the School nurse do?

• Provides leadership in the development and promotion of a comprehensive health program

• Advocates for the health right of children• Promotes an optimal level of health for students and staff• Serves as a consultant for the health concerns of

students, families and staff• Promotes sound health care practices within the school

and community• Serves as link between health care providers, families,

staff and community agencies

What services does the School nurse provide?

• Promotes and protects the optimal health status of children

• Develops guidelines for the management of illness and injury

• Provides training to designated staff on recognition of signs and symptoms of disease

• Performs health assessments which includes screening for various health factors impacting student education

• Performs nursing procedures e.g. wound dressing

• Provides health education and counselling• Maintains, evaluates and interprets cumulative

health data to accommodate individual needs of students

• Provides chronic disease management and education e.g. for sickle cell anaemia

• Plans and implements Individualized Health care Plans (IHP) and services for children with disabilities and/or health conditions that interfere with learning

• Provides assessments and interventions for students with mental health concerns

• Promotes and assists in the control of communicable disease through immunization programs, early intervention, surveillance, reporting and follow up of contagious diseases

• Recommends provisions for a healthy school environment conducive to learning

• Provides health education, health resources, wellness programs and curriculum recommendations to the school staff

• Engages in research and evaluation of school health services

Thank you