scholarly journals Increasing Screening Follow-Up for Vulnerable Children: A Partnership with School Nurses

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 1572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunice Rodriguez ◽  
Ashini Srivastava ◽  
Melinda Landau
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
School Nurses ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Vision Screening ◽  
Minority Children ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
The Impact

Approximately 20% of school-age children have a vision problem. Screening is an effective way to detect visual impairments, although only if adequate follow-up is available. Here, we evaluate the impact of hiring full-time nurses in four underserved schools on the likelihood of increasing follow-up for treatment after vision screening. First, we compared descriptive screening follow-up data from the intervention schools with that of five matched schools with part-time nurses in San Jose, California, from 2008 to 2012. The intervention schools had around 2800 low-income, minority children each year, and the five comparison schools had around 3445. Secondly, we conducted a qualitative analysis of open-ended survey responses from 129 teachers in the nine participating schools. In the final year, 96% of the students screened and referred for possible vision problems in schools with full-time nurses were followed up and examined by a health care provider. Yet, only 67% of students screened in comparison schools were examined. Teachers in schools with full-time nurses reported that follow-up of vision problems and getting glasses for students was the most beneficial activity performed by the nurses. School nurses can effectively increase medical care coordination and follow-up of vision screening in low-income communities.

Outcomes of an Elementary School-Based Vision Screening Program in North Carolina

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex R. Kemper ◽  
Anya Helfrich ◽  
Jennifer Talbot ◽  
Nita Patel
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Screening Program ◽  
School Nurses ◽  
Vision Screening ◽  
Screening Programs ◽  
School Year ◽  
School Based ◽  
Eye Examination ◽  
The Impact

School nurses can play a key role in the detection of significant refractive error. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a statewide school nurse vision screening program by evaluating the outcomes of screening among first, third, and fifth graders in 10 schools in North Carolina during the 2009–2010 school year. Of the 2,726 children who were screened, 7.7% ( n = 209) were abnormal, of which 89% ( n = 186) were placed into a comprehensive database for follow-up. No documentation of any follow-up was available for 35% ( n = 65) of these children. Of the 106 with complete eye examination data available, 54.7% ( n = 58) had myopia, 22.6% ( n = 24) had hyperopia, 11.3% ( n = 12) had astigmatism, 1.9% ( n = 2) had anisometropia, and 9.4% ( n = 10) were normal. Even with incomplete follow-up, this screening activity led to identification of 3 cases for every 100 children screened, underscoring the importance of high-quality school-based vision screening programs.

Dynamics of affordability and immigration in the Canadian housing market

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikkram Singh
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Housing Affordability ◽  
Immigrant Integration ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Essential Contribution ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to make two major contributions. First, given the literature gap in housing unaffordability for different immigrant groups in Canada, it makes an essential contribution to the literature. To the best of the knowledge, this study is the first study of its kind to examine housing unaffordability by examining different immigrant groups. Second, differences in unaffordability can help understand the decline in welfare, as it can have financial implications and a negative impact on health outcomes. Third, this study’s findings are valuable for policy formulation to improve immigrant integration and ease the housing unaffordability crisis. Design/methodology/approach This study examines the determinants of housing affordability to investigate differences among various immigrant groups in Canada. A bivariate logit model using public microdata from the Canadian census estimates the determinants of moderate and severe unaffordability. Additionally, the separation of tenants and owners provides insights into the dynamics of unaffordability. The results show significant differences between immigrant groups with higher levels of unaffordability among Asian immigrants. The insights can help devise and implement housing assistance programs to address the challenges arising from the post-COVID-19 pandemic phase. Findings The results indicate that unaffordability declines with increasing age, education and full-time employment. Gender dynamics are evident, with women faring worse than men regarding the likelihood of extreme housing unaffordability. Households face a greater likelihood of unaffordability in more populous provinces and larger census metropolitan areas that struggle with the high cost of living, racial disparities and low income. Immigrants, especially from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, continue to struggle with chronic and severe unaffordability issues. The impact is much more severe for those renting, exemplifying the strain it is taking on the financial health of recent immigrants. Originality/value Given the literature gap in housing unaffordability for different immigrant groups in Canada, it makes an essential contribution to the literature. To the best of the knowledge, this study is the first study of its kind to examine housing unaffordability by examining different immigrant groups.

scholarly journals Assessing the scale and spread of an experiential teaching kitchen in after-school programming among school-age children

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
William J Heerman ◽  
Yasmeen Elsakary ◽  
Evan C Sommer ◽  
Juan Escarfuller ◽  
Shari L Barkin
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Community Setting ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
After School ◽  
Minority Children ◽  
Parks And Recreation ◽  
Experiential Teaching ◽  
School Programming

Abstract Objective: To scale-out an experiential teaching kitchen in Parks and Recreation centres’ after-school programming in a large urban setting among predominantly low-income, minority children. Design: We evaluated the implementation of a skills-based, experiential teaching kitchen to gauge programme success. Effectiveness outcomes included pre–post measures of child-reported cooking self-efficacy, attitudes towards cooking, fruit and vegetable preference, intention to eat fruits and vegetables and willingness to try new fruits and vegetables. Process outcomes included attendance (i.e., intervention dose delivered), cost, fidelity and adaptations to the intervention. Setting: After-school programming in Parks and Recreation Community centres in Nashville, TN. Participants: Predominantly low-income minority children aged 6–14 years. Results: Of the twenty-five city community centres, twenty-one successfully implemented the programme, and nineteen of twenty-five implemented seven or more of the eight planned sessions. Among children with pre–post data (n 369), mean age was 8·8 (sd 1·9) years, and 53·7 % were female. All five effectiveness measures significantly improved (P < 0·001). Attendance at sessions ranged from 36·3 % of children not attending any sessions to 36·6 % of children attending at least four sessions. Across all centres, fidelity was 97·5 %. The average food cost per serving was $1·37. Conclusions: This type of nutritional education and skills building experiential teaching kitchen can be successfully implemented in a community setting with high fidelity, effectiveness and organisational alignment, while also expanding reach to low-income, underserved children.

Association of Presence of a School Nurse With Increased Sixth-Grade Immunization Rates in Low-Income Arizona Schools in 2014–2015

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 360-368
Author(s):  
J. Mac McCullough ◽  
Rebecca Sunenshine ◽  
Ramona Rusinak ◽  
Patty Mead ◽  
Bob England
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
School Nurse ◽  
School Nurses ◽  
School Level ◽  
Licensed Practical Nurse ◽  
Vaccination Rates ◽  
Immunization Rates ◽  
The Impact

School nurses often play large roles in implementation of school vaccination requirements aimed at controlling the spread of communicable disease. We analyzed the association between the presence of a school nurse and school-level vaccination rates in Arizona. Using school-level data from Arizona sixth-grade schools ( n = 749), we regressed average sixth-grade school-level immunization rates on presence of a school nurse (registered nurse [RN] or licensed practical nurse [LPN]) and school-level socioeconomic status (SES), controlling for other school- and district-level characteristics. Schools with a nurse had higher overall vaccination rates than those without a nurse (96.1% vs. 95.0%, p < .01). For schools in the lowest SES quartile, the presence of a school nurse was associated with approximately 2 percentage point higher immunization rates. These findings add to the growing literature that defines the impact of school nurses on student health status and outcomes, emphasizing the value of school nurses, especially in lower SES schools.

The Impact of School Nurses in Kentucky Public High Schools

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 434-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teena Darnell ◽  
Kathy Hager ◽  
Paul D. Loprinzi
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Graduation Rates ◽  
Participation Rate ◽  
American College Test ◽  
School Nurses ◽  
Public High Schools ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Act Scores ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school nurse presence and graduation rates, absenteeism, and American College Test (ACT) scores. A state-wide survey of all public high schools was undertaken (participation rate of 99.1%). Survey data obtained from individual high schools provided information on the employment status of school nurses. In addition to nurse presence determined by the survey, open-access electronic databases were used to determine graduation rates, absenteeism, ACT scores, money spent per pupil, gender, race–ethnicity proportion, and incarceration data. Study findings showed a possible relationship between students attending schools with a full-time nurse and significantly higher graduation rates, lower absenteeism, and higher ACT scores. The study results suggest that school nurses may contribute not just to health outcomes but to improved academic and economic outcomes as well. Of course, future work is needed to confirm these assertions.

The impact of caregiver health literacy on healthcare outcomes for low income minority children with asthma

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (12) ◽  
pp. 1316-1322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Jo Belice ◽  
Giselle Mosnaim ◽  
Stanley Galant ◽  
Yoonsang Kim ◽  
Hye-Won Shin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Healthcare Outcomes ◽  
Minority Children ◽  
Caregiver Health ◽  
Children With Asthma ◽  
The Impact

Universal versus Targeted Benefits: The Distributional Effects of Free School Meals

10.1068/c0457 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo J Morelli ◽  
Paul T Seaman
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Current System ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
School Meals ◽  
Welfare Provision ◽  
Free School ◽  
The Past ◽  
State Education ◽  
The Impact

UK government policy over the past thirty years has seen a movement away from universal provision of welfare towards the targeting of welfare. The advent of devolution in Scotland, and to a lesser degree Wales, has, however, created new policy forums in which the shift towards targeted benefits has been reversed in a number of important fields. Welfare provision in relation to children is a further key area in which this policy debate has emerged. Little evidence has been provided for the effectiveness of this shift in policy until now. We examine the effect of this divergence in welfare policy. We look at the issue of universality and targeting by examining the impact of the proposal for the introduction of universal free school meals to all children in full-time state education. The current system of free school meals is found to be the least effective method of welfare provision. Other methods of targeting are found to be more effective than the current system, but universal provision is found to be the only mechanism for consistently providing welfare to all low-income households.

Knowledge impact of a US-based tobacco prevention curriculum among Tanzanian children

2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 802-808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paige St Germain ◽  
Frances L Lucas ◽  
Miriam J Williams Wilson ◽  
Bertha Tsingay A Maegga ◽  
Susan Miesfeldt
Keyword(s):  
Tobacco Use ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Tobacco Prevention ◽  
Tobacco Exposure ◽  
Initial Exposure ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
The Impact

Purpose: Tobacco use is a major public health issue in developing countries, with substantial initial exposure in childhood. School-based educational resources promise to reduce tobacco initiation and experimentation among children from low-income countries. Research in this area is scant. The study goal was to test the impact of an evidence-based US educational resource on tobacco-use health risk knowledge among Tanzanian children. Methods: Eglin Long-Horn of Nightshade County is a potentially transferable children’s storybook/curriculum focused on reducing tobacco-use intent. A pre-/post-survey assessed the impact of ‘Eglin’ on knowledge of tobacco exposure health risks among secondary school-age residents of a Tanzanian children’s home. Results: Of the 52 participants, 35 returned both surveys. School grade ranged from Forms 1 to 4, with 51% in Forms 1–2 (ages 14–15). There was an overall increase from 60% to 93% ( p < .0001) in correct survey responses, with an increase seen in all grade levels. Conclusion: A US-based tobacco awareness storybook/curriculum improved Tanzanian children’s knowledge of tobacco-use health risks.

Increasing Immunization Compliance

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 203-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Toole ◽  
Cynthia S. Perry
Keyword(s):  
Inner City ◽  
School Attendance ◽  
Transportation Cost ◽  
School Nurses ◽  
Working Parents ◽  
Record Keeping ◽  
Access To Primary Care ◽  
The Impact ◽  
City Schools

School nurses often have the responsibility to ensure that students meet all immunization requirements for school entry and school attendance. In large inner-city school districts, many obstacles exist which make this task daunting and often result in lengthy absences and exclusions for students. It is critical that school nurses find creative and systematic ways to meet these challenges, which include working parents, lack of access to primary care, lack of transportation, cost of immunizations, poor compliance and follow-up, myths regarding immunizations, and the impact of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) legislation. This article describes an immunization project that removed most of those barriers for high-risk students and gave the school nurses tools to succeed in achieving higher levels of immunization compliance in inner-city schools. Since the immunization project’s conception, compliance in the district has risen from an overall level of 50–60% to 90–100%, along with better record-keeping and the prevention of exclusions.

scholarly journals Effects of Anaemia and Iron Supplementation on Vaccine Response: A Birth Cohort Study and a Randomized Trial Follow-Up Study in Kenyan Infants

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 1115-1115
Author(s):  
Michael Zimmermann ◽  
Nicole Stoffel ◽  
Mary Uyoga ◽  
Simon Karanja
Keyword(s):  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Iron Supplementation ◽  
Randomised Trial ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Measles Vaccine ◽  
Vaccine Response ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Objectives Vaccines often underperform in low-income countries. Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) may impair adaptive immunity and is common among African infants at time of vaccination. Our objective was to assess whether IDA impairs vaccine response and whether iron supplementation improves vaccine response. Methods We performed two studies in southern Kenya. In study 1, we followed a birth cohort to age 18 mo and assessed whether IDA at time of vaccination with pentavalent, 10-valent pneumococcal and measles vaccines predicted vaccine response. Primary outcomes were serum IgG and seroconversion at age 24wk and 18 mo. Study 2 was a randomised trial cohort follow-up in children who received 5 mg iron daily or no iron for 4 mo starting at age 7.5 mo and received measles vaccine at 9 and 18 mo; primary outcomes were IgG, seroconversion and avidity assessed at 11.5 mo and 4.5y. Results Study 1 ran from August 2013 to May 2017; 573 infants were enrolled and 303 completed the study. Controlling for sex, birthweight, anthropometrics and maternal antibodies, haemoglobin at time of vaccination was the strongest positive predictor of: (A) anti-diphtheria and anti-pertussis IgG at 24wk and 18 mo; (B) anti-pertussis filamentous hemagglutinin IgG at 24wk; and (C) anti-pneumococcus-S19 IgG at 18 mo (for all, P &lt; 0.05). IDA and serum transferrin receptor at vaccination were the strongest predictors of seroconversion against diphtheria and pneumococcus-S19 at 18 mo (P &lt; 0.05 for all). Study 2 ran from October 2014 to March 2019; 155 infants were recruited, 127 and 88 were assessed at age 11.5 mo and 4.5y. Infants who received iron at time of measles vaccination had higher anti-measles IgG (P = 0.0415), seroconversion (P = 0.0531) and IgG avidity (P = 0.0425) at 11.5 mo. Conclusions To our knowledge these are the first prospective data from Africa assessing the impact of IDA at vaccination on vaccine response. IDA at time of vaccination is associated with decreased response to diphtheria, pertussis and pneumococcal vaccines. Primary response to measles vaccine is increased by iron supplementation. Because anaemia is common in African infants and because the vaccine-preventable disease burden is high, if IDA reduces immunogenicity of childhood vaccines its prevention could have major benefits. Funding Sources Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; ETH Zurich; DSM Nutrition; The Philhuman Foundation

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