School-Based Services
School Based Health Care
Getting health care for your child can be complicated. Many doctors only offer appointments during the school day, and their offices might be far from school. To see the doctor, your child might have to miss school and you might have to leave work — which isn’t always an option.
Our School-based health services make going to the provider as simple as walking down the hall.
Staffed by Shawnee Family Health Center nurses and social workers, school-based health care provides a range of services to meet kids’ and teens’ health care needs. Services can include check-ups, counseling, and regular visits for problems like asthma and diabetes.
Students who use school-based health centers benefit in many ways. They spend more time in class because they tend to be sick less often and don’t have to take as much time off school to get to appointments. According to data from the School-Based Health Alliance, school-based health centers:
- Help students do better in school
- Increase high school graduation rates
- Decrease school discipline cases
Studies show that teens, who might resist going to a doctor, are more willing to get help for problems like depression and weight issues at a school-based health center. This might be because they see the health center’s staff at school each day, which helps build trust.
What Services Do We Offer?
- Primary Care
- Mental Health Services
More Services can include:
- Tests for strep throat
- Flu shots
- Sports phyicals
- Scoliosis screenings
- Medicine and check-ups for chronic conditions, like asthma and diabetes
- Teaching students about healthy eating and exercise
- Counseling for mental health and emotional issues
- Referrals to specialists, if needed
- Behavioral health care to help students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) focus in class, or enable stressed or anxious students to talk privately with a therapist without leaving school
Besides one-on-one care, some school-based health centers lead small-group and classroom activities, like lessons on active lifestyles.
Our school-based health center is open whenever school is in session. We often have rules to keep kids from visiting during core classes unless it’s an emergency. Some are also open after school, at night, or on weekends. As well as serving students, they may provide care to family members, such as younger siblings.
Although a student can get many health care needs met at a school-based health center, it is not meant to replace the child’s regular doctor. If your child already has a doctor outside school, the health center will work with that doctor to offer consistent care. For kids and teens who don’t have a regular doctor, school-based health centers can offer care during the school year and link students to a doctor or other health center when school isn’t in session.
