If you received a grant for in-school clinic services, what would YOU use it for?

The assumption for this response is that a grant recipient (from the Johnson Foundation) would be able to create a full service healthcare wing of the middle or high school that would be staffed with at least two nurses each of the 5 school days a week.  Given this assumption, here is the plan for specific healthcare services.

More after the break...


The Johnson Foundation has outlined a couple of areas they consider important as evidenced by past grant recipients: preventing obesity, accessing healthy foods, public health, using interactive technology to deliver health information, medical and dental education, introducing young people into the health field.  Given these priorities, grant recipients should focus on providing these healthcare services at the school level:

• seasonal allergy/cold/flu shots,
• twice annual dental cleanings,
• preliminary physicals and strength tests (which might be able to pinpoint other issues that could provide the basis for a doctor recommendation and more comprehensive sports physical),
• preliminary vision screenings
• Immunizations (all mandatory and others by parent permission) and vaccines (as requested)
• On-site consultations for pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease prevention/care, menstruation complications
• Counseling for drugs/alcohol, death or traumatic events, living-diseases like diabetes or sickle cell anemia or Crohn’s, and severe emotional disturbance (like that the court was worried about in Rosie D.  v. Romney)
• Treatment for common illness and injuries

These would likely have an impact with schools and communities and also position the schools to be highlighted in Johnson Foundation materials and publicity.

However, the specific initiatives of the grant organization should be a starting point not a limiting factor of schools.  With the help of specific curriculum from teachers and professionals along with monthly or seasonal initiatives, schools should also use funds for the following to reach community needs:

• General education programs on how to enter public health, medical, nursing, epidemiology, nutrition sciences, or disease prevention fields of study post-high school graduation.
• Matching students with internships at local hospitals, patient care facilities, or nursing homes.
• Group psychological counseling
• Adolescent risk assessment surveys consistent with NASBHC
• Random, once monthly nutrition surveys of the student population to begin data points for a school-based nutrition revolution consistent with NASBHC
• Fatherhood initiatives consistent with HHS
• homeconomics (like personal finances and beginner investing principles, cooking basics, food groups and food properties, consumer economics)