Parent and student preferences for services in a school-based clinic

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Adolescent Health
• School Health Programs

Background:

• School-based clinics are crucial for providing accessible healthcare to students.
• Understanding student and parent needs is essential for effective program planning and service delivery.
• Previous research highlights varying levels of interest in specific health services among adolescents and their guardians.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess student and parent preferences for health services within a suburban high school.
• To inform the program planning of a new school-based clinic by identifying desired services.
• To gauge the level of interest in comprehensive health services among students and parents.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to 199 students and 196 parents in a suburban high school.
• Participants were queried on desired health services and their respective levels of interest.
• Data analysis focused on comparing preferences between student and parent groups.

Main Results:

• Both students and parents expressed moderate to high interest in school-based health services.
• Parents generally showed higher overall interest than students, but both groups desired comprehensive services.
• Specific interest was noted for general health, reproductive health, and counseling services.

Conclusions:

• Survey findings indicate a demand for comprehensive health services in school-based clinics.
• The dual approach of informing and surveying the community effectively gathers data for service matching.
• Results support the integration of general, reproductive, and counseling services to meet identified needs.