Online Program

288183
Health information technology and the future of school nursing


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Marty Aleman, MAN, PHN, Healthy Communities (Primary Prevention), Olmsted County Public Health Services, Rochester, MN
Shaylene Baumbach, BS, Healthy Communities Division, Olmsted County Public Health Services, Rochester, MN
Asthma is estimated to occur in 7% of school-age children, although population-based prevalence studies have placed this estimate closer to 12%. Among Minnesota children with asthma, more than half had an asthma attack in the past year. School staff, families and healthcare professionals play an important role in helping students with asthma manage their disease at school. Substantial evidence links poorly controlled asthma to poor childhood school performance and attendance and by improving the communication between home, school and health care providers; the student with asthma can experience better care management and health outcomes.

The Beacon Asthma Project in SE Minnesota initiated collaboration among local health care providers, local public health, and several school districts to identify and manage asthma cases using an asthma action plan that is shared through an exchange by electronic health information system portal.

To date, the Beacon Asthma Project in SE Minnesota has 5 health care systems participating in the portal which exchanges Asthma Action Plans and increases communication with 34 schools, who have had school nurses trained in the proper use of the portal. The number of schools engaged continues to grow. Similar to many projects, the Beacon Asthma Project in SE Minnesota came across unforeseen barriers; however each one only brought the Beacon Asthma Project in SE Minnesota closer to a better overall process in developing a variety of “best practice” approaches to improving health and health care delivery in the United States.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
Describe issues of asthma management in schools using a community engagement approach with parents, schools and healthcare providers. Describe how using health informatics systems promotes the use of asthma action plans between healthcare providers and schools. Describe the tools and techniques used to overcome the issues related to asthma management with students.

Keyword(s): School Health, Information Technology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Marty Alemán is a Public Health Nursing Manager for Olmsted County Public Health Services whose responsibilities include oversight of the School Public Health Nurse She has been involved for over 3 years with the development and implementation of the Beacon Asthma project, focusing on engaging with school communities.She received her Masters of Arts in Nursing in Transformational Leadership from Augsburg College.
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.

Back to: 2044.0: School Health Services