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Student attitudes toward school-based health centers
J Santelli1, A Kouzis, S Newcomer
1Maternal and Child Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Summary
Students strongly support school-based health centers (SBHCs), with enrollment influenced by personal experience and peer support. Greater SBHC exposure correlates with more positive student attitudes toward these vital health resources.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Adolescent Health
- Health Services Research
Background:
- School-based health centers (SBHCs) offer accessible healthcare to students.
- Understanding student perceptions is crucial for SBHC effectiveness and enrollment.
- Limited data exists on student attitudes and enrollment factors for SBHCs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess student attitudes toward SBHCs.
- To identify factors influencing student enrollment in SBHCs.
Main Methods:
- Anonymous classroom questionnaires administered to students in Baltimore schools (with and without SBHCs).
- Comparison of SBHC enrollees, non-enrollees, and students in non-SBHC schools using bivariate analyses.
- Logistic regression to determine predictors of SBHC enrollment.
Main Results:
- Overwhelming student support for SBHCs across all groups (enrollees, non-enrollees, and students in non-SBHC schools).
- High satisfaction reported by enrollees regarding care quality (86%) and privacy (79%).
- Key enrollment predictors included health issues, medical assistance, peer enrollment, extracurricular involvement, and being African-American.
Conclusions:
- Students generally hold positive attitudes towards SBHCs.
- Personal experiences and peer influence significantly shape student views on SBHCs.
- A 'learning curve' effect was observed, with increased SBHC exposure leading to more favorable attitudes.