196558 Impact of Paid Sick Days on Public Health in an Elementary School Population

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Jan K. Carney, MD MPH , Department of Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
Dino N. Barhoum , University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
Joanna Conant , University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
David Diller , University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
Marisa Hori , University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
Hunter B. Moore , University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
Kathryn M. Richard , University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
Annya D. Tisher , University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
Colin Robinson , Peace and Justice Center of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Thomas V. Delaney, PhD , Dept. of Pediatrics, VCHIP, UVM College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
Burton Wilcke, PhD , University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
  
Introduction. Recent studies suggest “paid sick days” (PSDs) benefit the well being of not only the employees themselves, but also their children by allowing parents to take time away from work to care for their children's health needs. However, only one third of Vermont's private-sector employers offer PSDs to their workers.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of parental PSD status on the health of children in Vermont.

Methods. A survey was distributed to parents of 1135 students in 9 elementary schools within 4 of Vermont's 14 counties. The survey included 20 questions regarding demographics, PSD status, and the health status of their children.

Results. The survey return rate was 31%. Our findings included the following. (1) Adults with less PSDs are more likely to send a child with symptoms of illness to school for financial or work related issues. This correlation is more pronounced in families when adults are typically not home during the school day. (2) Three or less PSDs reduces the amount of well child visits in families when adults are commonly not home, while over 90% of adults took their children to well child visits regardless of PSDs when an adult was typically home during the school day.

Conclusion. We conclude that the availability of PSDs benefit Vermont children's health. Further study is required to assess the public health impact of sick children sent to school due to lack of parental PSDs.

Learning Objectives:
1. Explain the benefits of paid sick days on both employees and children 2. List specific examples of health impacts to children from availability of paid sick days for parents 3. Formulate policy options related to paid sick days and children’s health

Keywords: Child Health, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Was a participant in design, implementation, analysis, writing, and presenting poster at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the Vermont Commission on Women Legislative Luncheon.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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