Globally: 2M children die annually from preventable diseases, 1 in 4 American children suffer from lack of access to medical, dental, & mental health care.
Globally: 2M children die annually from preventable diseases, 1 in 4 American children suffer from lack of access to medical, dental, & mental health care.
I think that providing a health care professionals in the schools is a great idea. I went to a high school and an elementary school that had a nurse on staff. However, we didn’t have as much access to the nurse as one would think because often times she was out of the building at other schools or she was in the school but she was helping teach our health education classes. I think having a health care professional on staff is really essential and overall helps the well being of the school, student, and parent, but do most school systems have funding for a full time health professional? Most of these schools that need a health professionals for these students who don’t have access to healthcare outside of the classroom don’t even have enough for books, desk, etc and the schools that can afford to have one have the students who have parents that are educated about healthcare and can afford to send their child to the doctor when they are sick, need their teeth cleaned, etc.
We are in flu season and it is very important that school aged children get vaccinated to help prevent the disease from spreading. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that anyone from age 6 months to 5 years old are at the greatest risk of serious flu-related complications. In the 2012-2013 flu season, over 100 pediatric deaths were reported. Nearly 90% of children that died from the flu were not vaccinated.
Because this is such a preventable tragedy, the CDC puts out a yearly Influenza Season booklet that gives parents a lot of information on the upcoming flu season. Since we are entering the peak season (December – February), it is important that people know how to protect themselves and their children from the flu.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season-2015-2016.htm
The US Census showed that 7% of children not living in poverty did not have health insurance while 9.8% of children living in poverty did not have health insurance. This is an alarming percentage of children who are uninsured. When children don’t get the care they need, they suffer tremendously from diseases that could be prevented such as infections or diseases that could be easily treated such as asthma. While there are several programs to make sure children are insured something still needs to be done for the rest of these children. The source of the reason why these kids are not receiving the proper treatment needs to be identified. It could be the cost or the time it takes to get children to the doctors office in order to get the care they need. I was working with a title one school last semester that had a healthy kids clinic available in the school for all of the students and families to use. Several of the parents could not afford to come back to school and get their children whenever they get sick. Whenever the students got sick they were sent to the clinic where they would be taken care of until their parents could get them. While this clinic helped out a lot with time issues, students still needed to be insured in order to be treated. I still believe that this is a good idea and step to take in order to help provide all children with the health care they need in order to grow healthy and strong. http://www.fcps.net/clinics
Health and Well-being is very important, disease control and preventable measures need to be taken. The tough part is how do we provide that and how can we make it affordable? The affordable health care act was launch in hopes of providing everyone the opportunity to have health insurance. The idea of being supportive to individuals and families who couldn’t always get the health care they needed was grand however, we now see several Co-Op insurance companies going into bankruptcy. The idea of penalizing individuals who didn’t sign up is outrageous also. Now the act can not be paid for and we were forcing individuals to sign up. I truly believe is there was a cap on the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry we wouldn’t see so much inflation in medical costs. However, When you have something everyone needs, such as medical supplies and vaccines, you have the ability to make people pay.
Interesting reading material
https://www.pacificresearch.org/fileadmin/documents/Studies/PDFs/2013-2015/BasuF2.pdf
Hmmmm. I am torn on institutionalized healthcare. The funny thing is, these are recent feelings. As a kid, I grew up getting vaccinations and immunizations frequently. I had severe allergies and asthma, so the doctor’s office was never foreign to me. It’s crazy to think that my allergies depend on four injections a week. The reason I have been fenced with the issue is due to my recent learnings of how immunizations and vaccinations actually work. Why is it that we are given all of these vaccinations at birth without choice? What are we actually receiving. Now I am trying to refrain from sounding eccentric and outlandish but learning about the Tuskegee experiment can do some damage.
On the other end, children are dying from the lack of access to health care. I don’t want what I said earlier to sound ungrateful. I appreciate the resources that I have, but my standpoint on vaccinations is another conversation meant for another day.
I honestly don’t have an answer for healthcare. It seems like everyone is standing on a different platform and it’s so hard to tell which way is up. It’s heartbreaking, but I don’t have words. I don’t. *On to research*
Oh, read this.
http://thinktwice.com/ploys.htm
Mental health is a major issue that I feel like is often ignored. In my experience, people are quick to discuss physical health problems, but are extremely hesitant to mention anything related to their mental health. As stated above, 1 in 4 American children lack access to mental health care. It takes so much bravery to admit that you need help with your mental health, and it is tragic to then not have access to treatment. The below article states: “Among adolescents, those that are homeless; served by state child welfare and juvenile justice systems; and are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender are often the least likely to receive services.” Those that are already the most disadvantaged, are also those least likely to receive services. There are many reasons why they would not receive services: lack of health care, social stigma surrounding mental health, difficulty diagnosing mental health problems, etc. It is vital to remember that mental health is just as important to wellbeing as physical health is.
http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/mental-health/access-mental-health.html
A related issue (to preventable illness) that hasn’t yet been discussed is vaccinations.
The issue of vaccination has been a hot topic lately. I think that it is extremely important that all children get vaccinated, especially if they are going into schools and other places where they are required to be around other children. I believe that if parents challenge the standard of proven/accepted immunizations that it could turn into a HUGE problem; the result being a higher amount of preventable illness related deaths.
The World Health Organization has a TON of information regarding vaccinations and how important is it or make them available to all students. In 2008 alone, 1.5 million children under the age of 5 died from vaccine preventable illness. More so, one vaccine (Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis) prevented 2-3 million children from death that same year. It is definitely a problem worth looking into.
http://www.who.int/gho/immunization/en/
I read this article and was in utter disbelief. It’s shocking to see the outrageous jump in prices of this medicine. I guess I can understand where Mr. Shkreli is saying, but I do not support or agree with his statement. I understand economic costs, but I feel like the consequences will outweigh the benefits. The people who are still using the medicine won’t be able to afford the medicine, so they won’t take the medicine anymore, and then even less consumption will occur. The price jump isn’t completely justified, and I don’t understand why the companies continue to prevail.
Recently in the news there was a story about a CEO raising the price of Daraprim, a drug that aids in treating parasite infections, especially in individuals with AIDS, from $13 per pill to $750 per pill. Many have advocated for the company to lower the price because the high cost prevents many patients from being able to afford the life saving drug. The CEO has stated that he has intentions of lowering the cost, but it is not yet certain how long he will go.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/business/a-huge-overnight-increase-in-a-drugs-price-raises-protests.html
I read this article and I find this crazy. At the top of this page it is stated that 1 in 4 children do not receive medical care. When the price of a medicine is able to be risen literally over night like this that statistic is easy to believe. Health care should be affordable for all, but when individuals are able to control things like this the price of healthcare become so outrageous many cannot afford it. Should we have a type of universal health care system in the US to ensure all children receive medical assistance? While their are programs for low SES children, what about the children who are from middle class families? These families often make enough money to make ends meet, but do not have any extra for medical expenses.
The article was quite alarming. In addition to increasing the price of Daraprim, the article also increased the prices for older generic drugs. Cycloserine, a drug used to treat dangerous multidrug resistant tuberculosis was increased $10,300 for 30 pills. High drug prices worry patients with chronic conditions, who have difficulty affording necessary medication for their disabling illness.
I found this organization from Chicago that focuses on a healthy school as a whole. This includes nursing assistance, fresh and healthy foods, air quality, and what being fit means. They even have a program that makes school yards “green” and encourages the playground to be used for PE, art, environmental education, and outdoor learning. Our students are our next generation of leaders, so investing in their overall health and wellness is important, while teaching lifelong healthy habits.
http://www.healthyschoolscampaign.org/
In America, one out of five children ages 2 to 18 is obese-resulting in complications of diabetes and other chronic conditions. It is very encouraging to provide kids an opportunity to choose healthier food choices, familiarize them with diverse alternatives to more fruits and vegetables. There is another program called The Healthy Schools Program. As similar to the above article, this program supports physical education, health education, and nutrition and wellness programs.
Now that the nation has decided to require health coverage of all persons and even provides for those that are unable to provide for themselves, it is especially important to allow for scheduling of outside services. Some students receive proper medical care, but the ones that are repeatedly seeing the school nurse for treatable illnesses deserve to be able to see a doctor. If the school has to provide a ride to an appointment for that student, that is a simple solution in comparison to suffering caused from an untreated illness because a parent doesn’t want to take the child to a doctor or simply cannot.
When considering the fact that 1 in 4 American children lack the access to proper medical, dental, and mental healthcare, the idea of providing more clinics within schools is a very appealing idea. I believe that it is a very positive thing for the children, parents, and those working in the schools. This will help to reduce the number of sick students attending school as they can be treated before they become too ill. This also lightens the burden on very busy parents. They will not have to take an entire day off of work to take their child to see a doctor or go to a clinic that may be busy nonstop. In addition, it provides nursing students an opportunity to complete their practicum locally or to gain experience working with children. While it may cost more for the school, the benefits outweigh the costs as it will create new jobs and resources, and will keep everyone healthier overall.
This website provides an overview of the Healthy Schools Campaign, which is run out of Chicago. This Campaign advocates for improving education through wellness. More specifically, this website offers a discussion on how the Healthy Schools Campaign is making strides toward improving students’ health through education. First, the website offers a brief statement on the campaign’s mission: “Our ultimate vision is a system in which schools are better able to create the conditions that support student health and wellness.” The site goes on to offer a discussion on the connection between health and education, as well as to advocate for the integration of the two in today’s schools. Finally, the site concludes by stating the campaign’s current focus and the particular steps they are taking to spread the word about the importance of health and education. Overall, this is a very informative site and the campaign discussed is a great opportunity for schools to improve the lives of their students through an education on health and wellness.
http://www.healthyschoolscampaign.org/programs/health-in-mind/
School-Based Health Centers are emerging in Washington State and across the country. These Centers are designed with the intention of providing an effective way to deliver consistent, high quality primary health care and mental health services to children and adolescents. This website focuses on The Washington School-Based Health Alliance and its role in providing children and youth with exceptional health care opportunities. More specifically, The Washington School-Based Health Alliance is an advocacy organization committed to advancing health care access in schools and helping ensure the health and academic success of children and youth statewide. Too many American children and youth are suffering from the devastating physical, mental, and social health effects brought on by the health care crisis. As such, more organizations like The Washington-Based Health Alliance need to be formed in order to give children and youth the access to health care that they deserve.
http://schoolhealthcare.org/
When it comes to providing medical professionals in the schools, I think that now that we offer healthcare to those who cannot afford it, it is less of an issue. It still needs to be available to those that cannot or won’t take their children to an office or for those that do not want to share with the parent a need to see a doctor. I think a doctor in the school is unnecessary, but access to making appointments for outside service is definitely necessary to ensure the health and well-being of the children.
Providing clinics in schools help not only the children that need the services but it helps the schools keep contagious childhood diseases from spreading within schools; helps medical, dental, clinical students fulfill practicum placement hours; and helps parents who can not afford to loose a days pay to take sick children to clinics (usually takes all day and parent may be fired for taking the day).