Advancing the Role of School-Based Health Centers in Driving Health Justice

Examining School Based Health Service Utilization Among Marginalized Youth in Connecticut During COVID

PURPOSE

This study examines how the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is affecting utilization of medical and behavioral health services through school based health centers (SBHC s).

METHODS

We leveraged the electronic health records from one of the largest sponsors of SBHCs in the country, and tested differences in SBHC utilization with chi-square tests one year prior to the pandemic (pre-pandemic: March 2019-February 2020) compared to one year into the pandemic period (March 2020-February 2021).

RESULTS

A significant difference in SBHC utilization was found between pre-pandemic and pandemic periods (P <.001). 63.5% of SBHC patients accessed medical services pre-pandemic compared to 51.2% during the pandemic. In contrast, 36.5% of SBHC patients accessed behavioral services pre-pandemic compared to 48.8% during the pandemic, representing a 12.3% increase in SBHC behavioral service utilization since the pandemic.

CONCLUSIONS

SBHCs may serve as an invaluable means of ensuring youth, particularly those from disadvantaged communities, have access to needed behavioral health services during the current public health crisis.

A Grounded Theory on School Nursing Experiences With Major Pandemic Diseases

This study was conducted to develop a substantive theory on school nurses' experiences responding to infectious diseases by applying the grounded theory method to explore their experiences and derive related concepts. Study participants were 20 school nurses with experiences coping with infectious diseases while working in schools. The research question of this study was "What kind of experience did the school nurses have in response to infectious diseases?" The analysis included open, axis, and selective coding. We derived 164 concepts, 45 subcategories, and 17 categories. Further, paradigm, situation, and school infectious disease response control tower models were derived. The results of this study can serve as bottom-up policy data to understand the current situation surrounding school infectious disease management through the experiences of school nurses.