June 2000 • Volume 6 • Number 6
Volunteer reviewers needed
National project to craft online resourceParticipants in the Health, Mental Health and Safety in Schools project have done their homework. Now they're ready to share findings with the rest of the class.
The four-year project -- sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of School Nurses and supported by a grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau -- aims to develop a comprehensive online resource of national guidelines to promote student health and safety. Four family physicians and an Academy staff person are participating.
Lani Wheeler, M.D., a pediatrician and one of four project chairs, said school health coordinators currently don't have easy access to information that would help them evaluate their services. The compendium ultimately will assist schools in justifying state funding for programs, help parents working for safer playgrounds or more school nurses, and provide information that advocates will need to prove the value of appropriate school health services. "We hope that it will result in children being healthier and more ready to learn," she said.
The project features 14 panels with representatives from health care, law enforcement, education, social work, community leadership and families. Each panel is collecting information on a specific facet of school health.
FPs Jay Kravitz, M.D., M.P.H., of Rotterdam, N.Y.; Lily Ning, M.D., of Honolulu, Hawaii; and Penelope Tippy, M.D., of Carbondale, Ill., serve on panels, and Jeannette South-Paul, M.D., of Bethesda, Md., and Barbara Widmar, AAFP health education manager, are central steering committee members.
South-Paul said up to 50 percent of school doctors are FPs. "We have a much broader perspective on health of the family," she said. "We know that kids don't function in a vacuum. They are a reflection of what's going on at home. And because we see the other members of the family, that's something that we can be aware of."
South-Paul said she's been pleased with the level of collaboration among the various groups despite the dizzying array of perspectives and agendas. "Almost more important than the final product is the teamwork, the discussions," she said. "It's not every day that you get physicians, educators and policemen sitting together to talk."
Draft guidelines should be available later this year, and project organizers need volunteers to review them. If you're interested, contact Lydia Bologna at (847) 981-4980 or by e-mail at hmhss@aap.org.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2000 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
FP Report | Headlines |AAFP Home | Search