Many health-related challenges that can get in the way of learning are now top of mind for 糖心动漫vlog across the country as they welcome students back for a new school year.
Poor health鈥攚hether physical or mental鈥攍eads to absenteeism and students who can鈥檛 fully engage in the classroom even if they are in their seats. The number of students chronically absent from school, generally defined as missing 10% or more of school, surged during the pandemic and remains elevated.
That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important for schools to be aware of the latest developments that could affect students鈥� health, said Lynn Nelson, the president of the National Association of School Nurses.
Nelson, who is also the senior director for student health services and support for the Capital Region ESD 113 school system in Tumwater, Wash., shared with Education Week strategies for schools to keep students healthy.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the student health-related issues that are top of mind for you heading into the school year?
The two overarching issues for sure are communicable diseases, things like COVID and influenza, and even the common cold, because it impacts absenteeism so greatly, [and] then the other one, which also impacts absenteeism, is the behavioral and mental health issues that really expanded during and post COVID. That often leads directly to school absenteeism, whether it鈥檚 anxiety or depression, emerging mental health kinds of disorders.
The other thing that flows from communicable diseases and some of the climate issues we鈥檙e facing now is asthma. Managing that in schools also impacts absenteeism, so that鈥檚 everything [from] controlling common colds in schools, to smoke-induced [asthma symptoms]鈥攚here I live we have a wildfire season鈥攖o mold-induced [asthma symptoms] if we don鈥檛 have updated HVAC equipment.
And then everybody鈥檚 worried about measles. I鈥檓 worried about a lot of different communicable diseases because as people lose trust in the vaccine process, they lose trust in all vaccines.
What do you recommend schools do to keep kids healthy?
Focus on teaching, especially young children, the basics of health hygiene: washing their hands, covering their cough, sneezing into their elbow, those sorts of things. That goes a long way. And then the school environment things: are we cleaning well enough every night? Are our HVAC systems up to date and our filters changed?
In terms of vaccines, it鈥檚 identifying those students, especially those new incoming classes every year, whether they鈥檙e in kindergarten, 1st grade, or even preschool, who [are] not in compliance with vaccines. And reaching out to those parents individually with resources and information. Not just: 鈥測our kid鈥檚 out of compliance,鈥� but with good solid information and resources, and address their concerns [about vaccines].
What do you wish schools were doing more in relation to students鈥� mental health?
Telehealth. Arming their school counselors, who are not always mental health counselors, with the systems they need to get the students who need that individual level of assessment and counseling to those resources. In urban areas, that might be a school-based health center or a clinic they have a partnership with.
In our more rural areas or under-resourced urban areas, telehealth has really made great strides and it鈥檚 just a matter of connecting. I say that like it鈥檚 simple, it鈥檚 not. But it鈥檚 a resource we didn鈥檛 have in the past, and where it works, it works really well.
