142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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School Health Center Evaluation with a "Twist" of Quality

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 : 12:50 PM - 1:10 PM

Shelly Kaller, MPH , Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Sara Geierstanger, MPH , Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Marta Lutsky, MPH, MEd , Alameda County Health Care Services Agency, Center for Healthy Schools and Communities, San Leandro, CA
Claire Brindis, DrPH , Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health & Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
This presentation describes methods and results from a comprehensive evaluation of 25 School Health Centers (SHCs) in Alameda County (located east of San Francisco), which for the past decade has documented that SHCs are well-positioned to provide quality adolescent health care.  The evaluation has collected client demographics, services received, and impact on health access and outcomes. New quality of care measures were added in 2013-14. Current data collection methods include provider documentation of client demographics, services and outcomes in a web-based database; client surveys; and school-wide student surveys.  

In 2012-13, the SHCs served 11,813 youth from diverse backgrounds, 24% of whom were uninsured. Clients returned for multiple visits (4.5 on average), demonstrating the value of integrated and youth-friendly services. Female clients significantly improved contraceptive use (46% to 55% “always” using contraception), and behavioral health clients significantly improved scores in social relationships (by 25%) and emotional and behavioral functioning (by 19%). Dental decay improved or did not worsen in 91% of dental clients. Finally, survey respondents reported high satisfaction with SHC services and staff, and improvements to their physical and behavioral health and academic and leadership skills, because of the SHCs.

In the 2013-14 evaluation, new quality measures were added from Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS), including weight assessment (BMI) and counseling for nutrition and physical activity, receipt of well-care visits, immunizations, and chlamydia screening. Preliminary results from these measures will be presented, along with lessons learned to improve documenting and providing high quality care to SHC adolescent clients.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice

Learning Objectives:
Describe data collection methods used in a comprehensive, multi-site School Health Center evaluation. Assess benefits and challenges of documenting quality of care measures in School Health Centers. Discuss evaluation findings regarding School Health Center clients’ profile, services received, access to care, client satisfaction, quality of care, health outcomes, and behaviors.

Keyword(s): Evaluation, School-Based Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have coordinated and directed multi-method evaluations of adolescent health programs for over ten years, with special focus on school-based health services.
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: 5196.0: School Health Services (primary prevention, chronic disease management, electronic records and measurement, etc)