We were thrilled when the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement urging physicians to ask parents about the number of missed school days at every visit for school-aged children. As trusted allies, physicians can talk about the importance of reducing chronic absence, educate families on what they can do to improve their child’s attendance and help connect students to supports to reduce health related absences.
Now Kaiser Permanente’s Institute for Health Policy has posted a blog by Attendance Works about the statement. The post includes an introduction from Cecilia Oregón Echeverría, executive director of Kaiser’s Institute for Health Policy.
“Schools are great places to instill lifelong healthy behaviors in young people. I know this firsthand, not just as a parent but as someone who worked in the school health field for over a decade and serves on the California School-Based Health Alliance’s board,” Echeverría writes.
Kaiser Permanente is committed to “nurturing health in the places where people live, work, play, and learn. This is especially important in schools, where better health boosts educational success and educational success leads to better lifelong health, employment opportunities, earning potential, and self-confidence,” she continues.
Read Pediatricians have an important role to play in reducing chronic absenteeism, the guest post by Attendance Works’ executive director Hedy N. Chang, on the Institute for Health Policy’s website.
Last year the Institute for Health Policy held a forum on addressing childhood trauma in schools that brought together stakeholders from across the country to discuss clinical, school, and community solutions. Check it out here.