Christi Kay, MA, Associate Executive Director, Kids' Health, 4062 Sandy Creek Cove, Buford, GA 30033, 678-482-8629, christi.kay@charter.net, Lois Stifel, BS, Director of Communications, Kids' Health, 1655 Tullie Circle NE, Atlanta, GA 30329, and Diane Allensworth, PhD, Executive Director, Kids' Health, 1655 Tullie Circle NE, Atlanta, GA 30329.

Public health workers often note that working with school staff can be challenging. Most often, this is due to a difference in priorities. The goal of education is scholastic achievement leading to graduation. The goal of public health is a reduction in mortality or morbidity. This presentation discusses how short-term education goals (improving academic success) can be linked with long-term health goals (reduction of disease). Addressing the educational and health outcomes of students is a goal on which both systems can agree. Kids’ Health, a unique health promotion initiative that links the goals of both systems, serves as a catalyst to improve the health and well being of students and school staff. Services to students include high-tech, interactive instruction by Kids’ Health staff and supplemental health instruction delivered by families using materials developed by Kids' Health. Services to staff include fitness screenings and worksite wellness programming. Schools are encouraged to organize School Health Councils to engage in a process of continuous improvement. Kids’ Health will share the communication plan that it has developed which provides Kids’ Health staff with guiding principles for outreach, messaging and relationship building that ultimately contributes to achieving the overall goals of the program. The presentation will describe the services, key messages, the products linking health and achievement, the various communication tools and how strategic alliances with public, private and voluntary organizations have facilitated dissemination of the key messages. The evaluation of the initiative will also be shared.

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