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| www.casbhc.org CASBHC News |
Spring 2009 |
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From the Executive Director
Not too late to Register CASBHC's annual conference will be held on April 23-24 at the Embassy Suites Hotel at the Denver Tech Center in Centennial, CO. This year's conference, titled "School-Based Health Centers: Integrating Mind and Body," will focus on providing SBHC clinicians and program administrators practical methods to improve patient care using an integrated model. The cost of the 1 1/2 day conference is $175 for CASBHC members and $225 for non-members. For more information, contact Todd Soderberg at 303-399-6380 or soderberg@casbhc.org. Register online by clicking here. You can view the conference program to see the schedule and read summaries of the sessions online. The conference has been made possible through the generous support of Kaiser Permanente, Denver Health, The Colorado Health Foundation, and COPIC Insurance.
Debbie Costin | |
The Healthy Schools Project
The Colorado Health Foundation contracted with CASBHC and the Children's Health Foundation to pilot a process of community engagement known as the Healthy Schools Project. The goals of the project are to improve the health of children through improvements in nutrition, physical activity and access to health care. The pilot is currently being conducted in the Western Slope communities of Rifle and Montrose.
The community engagement process follows roughly three stages. First, community leaders, called stakeholders in this process, are brought together from the local school district, government, health care providers and non-profits engaged in youth advocacy. A facilitated discussion explores the range of challenges facing the children and youth as well as listing the existing assets available to them. The outcomes of this discussion are a statement of a problem to be addressed as well as a set of open-ended questions to guide a panel of external experts in their quest to better understand the local conditions.
In the second stage a panel of experts is brought in from out of town. The expertise of this group may be from areas such as finance, children's health, Medicaid outreach, mental health, education, youth advocacy, and social marketing. These experts spend several days interviewing a variety of people in the community and touring various facilities as they seek possible solutions to the questions posed to them by the community leaders. After the interviews, touring the facilities, conversations amongst the group, and reflecting on what they had heard, the panel of experts present their findings and recommendations to the reconvened group of local stakeholders.
The community decides how it can use or implement the recommendations of the expert panel in the third and final stage of the project. Some recommendations may be simple and implemented quickly. For example, the experts might suggested removing vending machines from the schools, or stocking the machines with healthier choices, to improve nutrition and this could be easily done. Other recommendations may be complex or expensive and be developed slowly over time. In this case, the experts might have recommended developing programs to engage disconnected youth in physical activities. Based on this recommendation, the community decides to develop a five-year plan to improve its skateboard facilities, host skateboard clinics and competitions. Still other recommendations may be discarded as impractical or too expensive.
The Healthy Schools Project pilot is still underway, so it is too early to report any outcomes, good or otherwise. It had certainly generated many good conversations within the participating communities and has taught all of us a valuable method for addressing complex problems. |
| Do Something About Teen Pregnancy
CASBHC is encouraging all middle and high school SBHCs to participate in the 2009 National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy which will take place on May 6th. The purpose of the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (NDPTP) is to promote awareness about teen pregnancy, its ramifications, and the importance of prevention.
CASBHC has engaged a teen consultant to create NDPTP kits that include quizzes, buttons, flyers and sample media information. Participation is not dependent upon the services offered in your SBHC. This event is about education and awareness. Flyers can be placed throughout the school informing students to stop by the SBHC on May 6th to take the quiz and receive a button. If you have a Youth Advisory Board, they can be very helpful in promoting awareness about the NDPTP. Not only is this a good way to promote awareness about teen pregnancy and prevention, it is an excellent way to increase student knowledge about the SBHC and the services available.
If you are interested in participating, please email our new teen consultant, Emilia Volz , by mid April. It is very important to contact CASBHC if you would like your SBHC to participate so we can create and order supplies accordingly. All supplies will be distributed at CASBHC's annual conference April 23-24, 2009. (If you have not yet registered, you can register by clicking here.) If you would like to receive promotional materials sooner than the 23rd please let CASBHC know when you reply and we can email them to you. |
By the Numbers
- Estimated number of uninsured children in Colorado: 153,000
- Estimated number of children eligible but not enrolled in Medicaid: 47,604
- Estimated number of children eligible but not enrolled in CHP+: 30,626
- Percent of children eligible but not enrolled in either Medicaid or CHP+: 23.4%
- County with the lowest enrollment rate in Medicaid and CHP+: Pitkin - 30.2%
- County with the highest enrollment rate in Medicaid and CHP+: Prowers - 84%
Source: Colorado Health Institute
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| Health News
Another Reason to Worry About Global Warming The March edition of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery published an article surveying patterns of dog bite injury to the head and neck in children and treatment outcomes of those injuries. The authors examined medical records of 84 dog bites in children covering an eight year period and found most bites were by the family pet with the highest frequency of bites during the summer months. The authors speculated that during the summer children were spending more time outside in the warm weather playing with their dog or the dog was more irritable when the temperatures were higher. You can read a very brief abstract of the article by clicking here.
More Bad News: Wired to Dine An article published in the March 5, 2009, issue of Neurology Today says that women may have neural wiring that makes it more difficult to say no to food than men. Dr. Gene-Jack Wang, of Brookhaven National Laboratory, showed 23 "average-sized" adults who hadn't eaten in at least 17 hours their favorite foods. Subjects were allowed to see, smell, and discuss the food. A cotton swab was used to introduce the taste of the food on their tongues, but the subjects were not allowed to touch the food. The test subjects rated their hunger and were scanned with PET and a tracer to find glucose metabolism in their brains. On the second day of the study, subjects were given the same treatment, but asked to suppress their desire to eat. Both sexes reported they could diminish their desire for food, but the PET scans said men had an easier time suppressing their hunger than the women. Dr Wang said that exercise, on the other hand, can activate areas of the brain which reduce the desire to overeat. You can read the entire article by clicking here.
Temperature and Air Pressure May Increase Risk of Headaches A study carried out at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center found a relationship between both high air temperature and low barometric pressure and the onset of migraine headaches. The researchers were curious about patients' reports of various environmental triggers for headaches so they examined over 7,000 records of patients who visited the emergency room of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center who were discharged with a diagnosis of headache between May 2000 and December 2007. They also looked at the records of such environmental factors as air temperature, barometric pressure, humidity and various air pollutants in the three days before the hospital visit. It was found that there was a 7.5% increase risk in severe headaches with every increase in temperature of nine degrees Fahrenheit. To a lesser extent low barometric pressure in the 2-3 days prior also increased risk. They did not find a correlation between severe headaches and pollutants. Their report is published in the March 10 issue of Neurology. You can read the press release from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center by clicking here.
Adolescents from Poor Families Exposed to More Bullying A study reported in the March edition of the American Journal of Public Health found that adolescents from poor families are more likely to be exposed to bullying than their peers. The authors describe a comparative, cross-sectional, multi-level study which used data from 35 countries, including both Europe and North America, over 100,000 adolescents, and from almost 6,000 schools to reach their conclusion. They also relate that the economic status of the country did not make any difference. What mattered most was the degree of economic disparity within any given country. The authors stated, "children of greater socioeconomic disadvantage (are) at higher risk of victimization." You can read a brief abstract of the article by clicking here.
Free Online Journal Devoted to Obesity The Milbank Quarterly is currently devoting its entire issue to the topic of obesity. Several of the articles may be of interest to those involved with SBHCs. For instance, one article discusses the role of schools in combating obesity. Another article offers advice on how to motivate action while not blaming the victim. The Milbank Quarterly is a multidisciplinary journal on population health and health policy. Several years of past issues are also available at no charge by clicking on the link above.
News Flash - Young Children Don't Think Like Adults Think! A study at CU Boulder and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that young children do not think in the same way that adults think. Using a computer game which taught children two rules about cartoon characters, CU scientists found that young children may understand a rule, but not apply it until after the child has experienced a need for the rule. Practically speaking, this means you may tell a child to put on his jacket before going outside because it is cold, but he does not put it on until after he goes out and experiences the need for the jacket. You can read a press release about the study by clicking here. |
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People, Resources and Events
New CASBHC Publication CASBHC will be making our new publication, "Rural School-Based Health Centers: A Framework for Success," available shortly after the upcoming CASBHC conference. Written by members of the Rural Health Consortium, this booklet highlights the challenges encountered in developing rural SBHCs and how those challenges were overcome to make successful school-based health centers across Colorado. Readers will be struck by the diversity of SBHCs in rural Colorado. Copies can be downloaded from the publications pages of the CASBHC website after the CASBHC conference at the end of April. Hardcopies can be requested through the CASBHC website.
Save the Date for the Upcoming 2009 Safety Net Symposium The Colorado Health Institute will be hosting its second symposium on Colorado's health care safety net: "Building and Monitoring Caring Communities" on May 3 and 4 at the Denver West Marriott in Golden. Registration materials will be available soon. You can sign up for updates by clicking here. Prepare for the symposium by reading CHI's latest Primer titled, "Colorado's Health Care Safety Net". CHI also has released the 2009 update of the Issue Brief titled, Colorado Children's Health Insurance, which looks at the level of insured and uninsured children county by county.
Save the Date for the Upcoming Community and School Health Conference
The Children's Hospital will be hosting the 25th annual Community and School Health Conference on June 11 and 12 at the Children's Hospital Conference and Education Center. The cost of the conference is $180 for registrations before May 14. Visit the webpage for the conference by clicking here. For questions or to request arrangements to accommodate a disability, contact Jeannie Dixon, Conference Coordinator, (720) 777-6123 or E-mail: dixon.jeannie@tchden.org, in advance of the conference.
Healthy Schools Report Available This past January, the Colorado Health Foundation published a report titled, "Healthy School: Key to a Healthier Colorado". The report describes the characteristics of healthy schools, identifying school-based health centers as a critical piece to improving the health of Colorado's children. You can view the report by clicking here.
The Colorado Health Foundation grant deadlines occur quarterly The next deadlines are April 15 and July 15. To speak with a TCHF program officer, please call the main number, (303) 953-3600, or toll-free at (877) 225-0839, and you will be directed to the most appropriate person. To see the guidelines and to apply for a grant online click here.
Grant Deadline for the Caring for Colorado Foundation The next deadline for grant applications to Caring for Colorado Foundation is October 2, 2009. To see grant guidelines or to obtain a grant application, go to the foundation's website at www.caringforcolorado.org.
Sign Up to be Notified of New Funding Opportunities by The Colorado Trust To be automatically notified of RFPs offered by The Colorado Trust, sign up online. You may also request to receive a variety of other updates from The Colorado Trust at the same time. | |
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