School-Based Health Services

News Staff | Weekly Challenger

Aug 05, 2022

The mission of the School-Based Health Services Program is to assess, protect and promote the health of children and adolescents, helping to assure that they are healthy in the classroom and ready to learn. To assess, preserve, and promote the health of children and adolescents, helping to ensure that they are healthy in the classroom and prepared to learn.

Prevention, intervention and emergency school-based health services are provided every day to adolescents attending five Pinellas County schools:

The high schools selected are based on several factors:

A high percentage of free or reduced lunches
High numbers of youth with significant discipline issues and histories of risky behaviors
High incidences of chronic health problems

School-Based Health Services staff deliver effective, efficient and quality healthcare on-site and provide the infrastructure necessary for treating:

Obesity and other chronic diseases
Provide care for acute illnesses
Work towards alleviating co-morbidities among at-risk high school students
Deliver culturally competent primary preventive, and emergency health care
Improves the overall health status in a substantially uninsured and medically underserved population through shared school-based and community resources
Provide a focus on prevention and early intervention
Offers a combination of testing such as pregnancy or STD testing
Medical assessments
Physical examinations
Substance abuse counseling
Case management
Dental health education
Diabetes education
Nutrition education
Health education and health promotion

The School-Based Health Services Program is a partnership between the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County, Pinellas County School System, and the Juvenile Welfare Board.

Visit bit.ly/schoolbasedhealthservices for specific forms to fill out.

Read the article on the Weekly Challenger: https://theweeklychallenger.com/school-based-health-services/