Maryland Assembly on School-Based Health Care
Registration is now open for the 7th Annual Johns Hopkins University Leadership Education in Adolescent Health Conference. This years conference is on Adolescent Health Disparities with a focus on substance use and abuse. It promises to be an interesting and informative day of focusing on the impacts of substance use and abuse on young people. School Health Professionals are encouraged to join in.
For registration information click here.
In today’s world, eating right and being healthy is a conscious choice, but often for students they face the dilemma of wanting the goodness of a true home cooked meal without sacrificing too many calories or nutritional value. This was the goal of Northwood High School’s Food Day event with the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). CSPI’s Fourth Annual Food Day took place on October 24th with events occurring all over the country. Food Day is movement started by CSPI to educate and advocate for a change to the American food system and to increase education and advocacy for healthy eating. Food Day promotes education on healthy eating such as conducting cooking classes and planting a school garden and advocacy efforts such as encouraging local officials to adopt better local food policies.
To commemorate Food Day, Northwood High School’s SBHC had students from a variety of ethnic backgrounds submit some of their favorite recipes. The recipes were then sent over to CSPI’s head chef, Kate Sherwood. Chef Kate and her team reworked the recipes to be healthier by taking out or substituting fatty ingredients (using chicken instead of red meat), modifying how the meal is cooked (pan frying instead of deep frying), and/or increasing the nutritional value of dish (adding additional vegetables, like cauliflower to macaroni and cheese). Recipes were submitted from all over the world: Bangladesh, Guinea, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, and Bolivia. To test out these new recipes, on Friday October 31st participating students took a field trip from Northwood High in Silver Spring, MD to CSPI headquarters in Washington, DC to cook with Chef Kate and others from CSPI. The morning was full of conversation on cooking techniques, safety in the kitchen, and how to make your meals healthier when at home. Students talked about the biggest take away from the experience being that you don’t always have to follow the recipes and you can always change it to make it healthier. After the recipes were prepared and cooked, everyone sat down to taste all the wonderful dishes. The photo album belows shows the students at work, preparation of meals, and the final product.
Northwood High’s Food Day is made possible by Hallways to Health and Catholic University’s School of Nursing.
For more information on CSPI visit their website
Last month, Howard County Public Schools launched the first telemedicine initiative in five school based wellness centers in the state of Maryland. This initiative is run by the Howard County Department of Health with funding from the Howard County Government to support telemedicine carts provided by CareClix, a Washington, D.C.-based telehealth service and technology firm. Phelps Luck Elementary School in Columbia, Maryland is the first school in Maryland to receive certification from the Maryland State Department of Education to have telemedicine cart capabilities. The other participating schools in the county – Running Brook Elementary, Bryant Woods Elementary, Talbott Springs Elementary, and Stevens Forest Elementary– will receive their telemedicine carts this month.
The way the telemedicine carts function is that nurses at the participating schools will utilize proprietary cameras, stethoscopes, and other medical devices to examine students. In turn, physicians at local hospitals will enter the virtual examination room through the proprietary CareClix online software. The physicians will be able to provide clinical care remotely; in addition they will be able to order labs and prescriptions directly through the CareClix platform if necessary. The CareClix telemedicine carts also give parents the opportunity to virtually participate in the examination through their smart phone, if they can not be there in person.
Telemedicine capabilities have many benefits for students and parents. Telemedicine improves access to health care for students, reduces absences due to medical conditions, and improves educational outcomes. In addition, telemedicine allows parents to be present during appointments without having to leave the workplace. According to a study conducted by the Telemedicine and e-Health journal, 84 percent of parents (out of 314 surveyed following their child’s first e-health visit) had positive comments on the open-ended portion of the survey. Primarily, the positive comments reflected the convenience and time saved by the parents due to their ability to not miss work, prescriptions being delivered to the child onsite, as well as the confidence in care. In addition, 35 percent of parents surveyed stated that in the past they have lost pay due to staying home with a sick child. More than 50 percent of parents admitted to giving a child medication when ill and sending them to school if possible.
According to Howard County Public Schools Superintendent Renee A Foose
“Learning can’t happen unless – and until – students are ready to learn. Telehealth keeps students in class, and helps them feel better sooner so they can focus on instruction. It will be a great boon for all students and families, and especially those with the greatest need.”
CareClix Telemedicine launches technology for Maryland elementary schools — Government Health IT
Telemedicine project introduced to 5 Howard County schools –WBAL TV