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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Diane Edith Allensworth, PhD¹, Carolyn Fisher, PhD², and Pete Hunt, MA². (1) National Center for Health Marketing, CDC, Division of Public and Private Partners, MS-K39, Atlanta, GA 30341, 770-488-8686, dda6@cdc.gov, (2) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health, MS- K 41, Atlanta, GA 30341

In 1987, an expanded school health model was promoted as a way to improved health status, cognitive performance, and ultimately, educational achievement. The expanded model was advanced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) when it funded all state education agencies, six territorial agencies, and approximately twenty of the largest local education agencies for HIV prevention funding in the late 1980s. The initiative was strengthened in 1992 with additional funding to approximately twenty state departments of education and health to coordinate school health programs to reduce risk factors for chronic disease among school-age youth. CDC has expanded its understanding of coordinated school health program to incorporate strategies that strengthen the coordination of school health programs at the local level, including: 1) Securing and maintaining administrative support and commitment; 2) Establishing a school health council/team to facilitate collaborative planning; 3) Identifying a school health leader to facilitate coordination; 4) Developing a plan for the purpose of continuous improvement; 5) Implementing multiple strategies through multiple components; 6) Focusing programming on meeting student needs ; 7) Addressing priority health-enhancing and health-risk behaviors; 8) Providing professional development opportunities for staff. CDC has also identified eight steps for state educational agencies to utilize to improve programming for school health. This presentation will describe the rationale for using these strategies to promote continuous improvement of the coordinated school health program at both the local and state level.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to

• Identify the strategies identified by CDC to improve coordination of local school health programs.
• Identidy the strategies identified by CDC to improve coordination at the state level of auality school health programs at the local level.

Keywords: School Health, Advocacy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No