Indicators of economic well being of families of children with special health care needs

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Erin M. Leone¹, Jamie Wyatt, MSW², and Sara Bachman, PhD². (1) Health and Disability Working Group, Catalyst Center, Boston University School of Public Health, 374 Congress Street, Suite 502, Boston, MA 02210, 617-426-4447 x 24, eleone54@bu.edu, (2) School of Social Work, Boston University, 264 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215

Current federal goals aim to provide adequate health insurance and financing of care for children with special health care needs. According to the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NSCSHCN), approximately one-third of parents cited inadequate insurance coverage and a similar number reported reduced work hours to care for their children with special health care needs. This project assesses the relationship between indicators of family and child well being at the state level utilizing the NSCSHCN data. Indicators of family well being include adequacy of insurance coverage and reduction in parents' work hours, and indicators of child well being are per pupil expenditures and resources spent for special education. Preliminary analyses indicate that states with greater per pupil expenditures have fewer parents reporting inadequate insurance coverage (R² = .322, p £ .05). In states with more parents reporting inadequate insurance coverage, a greater number of parents report a reduction in work hours (R² = .357, p £ .05). These results suggest that economic well being of families is impacted by state policies that affect the well being of CSHCN.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

1. Utilize NSCSHCN data to identify indicators of child and family well being;
2. Describe the relationship between per pupil expenditures, special education resources, inadequate insurance coverage and reduction in parents’ work hours at the state level
3. Apply the study findings when advocating for adequate health insurance and financing of care for CSHCN at the state level.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Disability and Health III

The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA