Health Care Providers

Given the role that physical and mental health plays in contributing to school absences, health providers and school nurses have an important role in ensuring students do not miss school unnecessarily because of acute or chronic illness or lack of access to health care. By showing the connection between health and attendance, school-based and community health providers can make the case for expanding health-related resources and services. Read this handout to learn why health care providers and advocates should care about attendance and what they can do.

The position statement on school attendance by the American Academy of Pediatrics, The Link Between School Attendance and Good Health, published in February 2019 is an excellent resource for enlisting health providers in preventing health related absences.

Research Summaries

The National Collaborative on Education and Health has created these summaries of research connecting health and chronic absence:

Handouts

These fliers help parents decide when their children are too sick for school.

A Health Flyer for Parents: Alameda County, Calif
How Sick is Too Sick: English version
How Sick is Too Sick: Spanish version
A Parent’s Guide to Attendance: Central Texas

School Nurses: The National School Nurses Association created this handout explaining the role they play in addressing chronic absence

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Resources

Attendance Works and the Healthy Schools Campaign are collaborating on the Here + Healthy Campaign to raise awareness nationally about the connection between chronic absenteeism and health. Learn more at hereandhealthy.org
Grantmakers in Health hosted this webinar to help explain why chronic absenteeism is of interest to health funders, how philanthropy and federal agencies are tackling the issue, and how foundations and corporate giving programs can become involved in driving solutions.

Chronic Absenteeism: What Are We Missing? (October 11, 2016)
Elev8 Baltimore and the Baltimore Student Attendance Campaign collaborated to prepare a preliminary review of absenteeism and school-based health services in Baltimore City. It is a first look into the links between absenteeism and school health from a local, state and national perspective.

State of Chronic Absenteeism and School Health: A Preliminary Review for the Baltimore Community (April 2012)

Analysis

Use this tool to assess what policies and practices your school, school-based clinic, or medical practice employs to reduce school absences.

Does Our School-Based Health Program Help to Reduce Chronic Absence and Improve School Attendance?

California School Health Centers Association produced , Connecting Students to Mental Health Services: Creative Collaborations, Funding, and Evidence-Based Practices, a toolkit that includes a section on how to identify and intervene with chronically absent students.

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Children’s Health Fund created, What Can I Do to Improve My Students’ Attendance?, a toolkit for educators with attendance team guidelines and workshop materials.

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The Healthy Schools Campaign created Addressing the Health-Related Causes of Chronic Absenteeism: A Toolkit for Action, with includes strategies for developing community and public health partners.

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Health and Chronic Absence

These tools present general information about the relationship between poor health and chronic absence.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, Michigan Chapter issued a guest column with suggestions for how health care providers can help kids stay in school.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation developed a policy brief that takes a close look at the reasons behind chronic absenteeism, its adverse impact on health and life outcomes, and offers potential solutions.
The Journal of School Nursing published a report, Does Contact by a Family Nurse Practitioner Decrease Early School Absence?, which found the presence of school nurses may lead to fewer absences and improved attendance.
The Santa Clara County Children’s Health Initiative published a brief, Santa Clara County Children’s Health Initiative Improves Children’s Health, that showed that children who have access to health insurance miss less school days.
The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Racial Justice at Harvard Law School released a report on How Health, Healthcare Access & Health Education Affect Student Attendance. They also provide a companion PowerPoint presentation with strategies for improvement.
The California Endowment, the James Irvine Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation created this brief, Student Health and Well-being are Vital to Academic Results.
The Journal of School Health published this study in 2010: The Relationship Between School-Based Health Centers, Rates of Early Dismissal From School, and Loss of Seat Time.

Specific Health Issues

Here are some in depth resources for addressing specific health issues that present barriers to attendance.

Asthma

Guides: The CDC has a Guide for Creating Asthma Friendly Schools which includes the American Lung Association’s Open Airways for Schools Program. The National Institutes of Health offers Managing Asthma: A Guide for Schools. The National School Boards Association and American Association of School Administrators developed In the Schoolyard and Beyond, a guide for families, schools and organization seeking to manage asthma.
Videos: These Asthma QuickTake videos and corresponding materials from the California School Environmental Health and Asthma Collaborative provide important information about how schools and families can reduce asthma triggers and, when needed, respond to an asthma episode (please note this is specific to California law).

Dental Health

Report: The Surgeon General released a report on Oral Health in America in 2000.
Brief: The Business Case for Improving State Dental Policies
Policy: The Children’s Dental Health Project provides tools and resources surrounding dental health and children.

Mental health

Policy: UCLA’s Center for Mental Health in schools released this policy brief on absenteeism, School Attendance: Focusing on Engagement and Re-engagement

Nutrition

Video: Arizona School Breakfast Program: Breakfast in the Classroom, the Valley of the Sun United Way teams up with the Arizona Department of Education and the Dairy Council of Arizona to make sure kids start the day off with a good meal.
Fact sheet: Read the School Breakfast Program fact sheet developed by the Share Our Strength, No Kid Hungry campaign
Policy Brief: The California Food Policy Advocates devloped, School Breakfast: Reducing Chronic Absenteeism & Supporting Student Success, showing how daily breakfast can improve attendance and what districts are doing in California.

Health Care Providers

Specific Health Issues

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