School and Community Partnerships are an essential part of the medical home model. Read More.
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WHAT IS SCHOOL HEALTH?
The Council on School Health (COSH) defines school health as an integration of wellness, safety, growth, learning, and development in the lives of school-aged children and adolescents within the context of their school, and with the coordinated alliance of the family and the medical home.
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
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To everyone invested in school health and in children and adolescents, welcome to the AAP Council on School Health (COSH) web site. The COSH works to establish standards of best practice for school health for children and adolescents beginning in pre-kindergarten and continuing through twelfth grade. This includes supporting a school physician in every district and a school nurse in every school.
We encourage you to look over the many resources available to you on this web site, and, if you are not a member of COSH already, to consider joining us in our efforts to improve school health across America, through education, advocacy, and support. |
Willie Sutton famously said he robbed banks because that is where the money is. Similarly, schools are where the children are. In fact, the school is a place where children are cared for and spend a good portion of their formative years. It is a place where educators ideally work in partnership with the child's family and medical home to enhance a child's or adolescent’s individual strengths. It is a place where school staff attempts to remove obstacles that might impede a child’s or adolescent’s ability to thrive both academically within the school setting and socially outside of school while they learn skills for achieving lifelong success and productivity within society. School health, then, touches most pediatricians somewhere along the life and education of a child or adolescent, and is a component of the medical home model. The more the community of pediatricians learns about and works with schools, the better care the child will get in the school setting. School health professionals and programs are key partners of the medical home and can help the pediatric practice accomplish its goals for the child and reinforce essential messages to parents in between visits.
School health takes many forms for physicians, from consulting or advisement, to on-site public health assistance, to nursing collaboration, and in some instances, to school based health centers for children and adolescents who otherwise do not have t access to a medical home. By joining the COSH, AAP members can be an active voice in implementing important improvements to school health, essential for children within the school setting, as well as the pediatricians who cares for them. If you are not a pediatrician, but work in some capacity for the physical or mental health and safety of children and adolescents in schools, we encourage you to consider becoming an affiliate member, so you can benefit from the work we do as well.
COSH is about children first. Preparing children today for tomorrow is key to every aspect of human progress in a civilized society. Children make a difference in our lives daily with their laughter, their love, and even their challenges. Please help COSH make a significant difference in the lives of children as a way of thanking them for being themselves and for enriching our lives. The COSH believes that together, we can improve the world of and for our children.
With Warm Regards,
Cynthia DiLaura Devore, MD, MA, MS, FAAP
Chair, COSH
MISSION, VISION & COSH PRINCIPLES
Mission
The Council on School Health is dedicated to maximizing the personal health, academic achievement and life-long success of children and adolescents. The COSH seeks to promote sound school health policies and practices that ensure the health and safety of school-aged children and adolescents through policy, education and advocacy.
Vision
The vision of the Council on School Health is for all children and adolescents to reach their maximum academic potential in a safe and healthy school environment that is supported by coordinated school health programs and other school-based health care services. Pediatricians and the medical home team and family will work in concert with schools to promote the physical, mental and social well-being of all children and adolescents.
COSH Principles
- COSH affirms that excellence in school health has a school physician in every school district and a school nurse in every school at ratios endorsed by the National Association of School Nurses.
- COSH supports the concept of the eight components of the Coordinated School Health Model promoted by the Centers for Disease Control as an essential foundation of a sound school health services program. (link)
- COSH endorses the importance of prevention through early recognition, prompt intervention, and early education and/or remediation of potential problems that will interfere with life-long health or learning.
- COSH acknowledges the necessity of ensuring full access of all school services in the least restrictive fashion for all children including those with special health care needs.
- COSH promotes the use of School Based Health Centers to improve access to health care, either as an adjunct to the private medical home or as a primary medical home for those families that would lack such care in any other fashion, as promulgated by the National Assembly of School Based Health Centers.
- COSH maintains that schools exercise a powerful role in shaping the health and well-being of young people and can provide a critical facility in which many agencies might work together to maintain their well-being including serving as an important public health intervention site, consistent with the American School Health Association.
IN THE NEWS
AAP Considers Recess a Necessary Break from the Demands of School
Both recess and physical education in schools promote activity and a healthy lifestyle, and should be a daily break for young children and adolescents. According to the new Council on School Health policy statement, “The Crucial Role of Recess in Schools,” recess serves as a necessary break from the rigors of concentrated, academic challenges in the classroom while it provides cognitive, physical, emotional and social benefits. The statement concludes that as growing evidence links recess to improved physical health, social skills and cognitive development, minimizing or eliminating recess can negatively affect academic achievement.
Recess should be safe and well-supervised and used as a complement to physical education classes, not a substitute. The statement recommends that recess should never be withheld for academic or punitive reasons, as it serves as a fundamental component of development and social interaction that students may not receive in a more complex school environment. Click here to read the full statement.
AAP Recognizes the Importance of School Physicians
The concept of a school physician has existed for more than a century, however, uniformity of this role among states and school districts and laws governing it are still lacking. The new Council on School Health policy statement, "Role of the School Physician,” helps pediatricians understand the critical knowledge base, roles and relationships of the school physician to aid them in supporting and promoting this important role in their states and local schools. The statement indicates that a school physician should ideally be board-certified in pediatrics or a physician with an expertise in pediatrics and recommends that their roles and responsibilities be well-defined, fairly compensated and outlined within a written contract.
There are numerous benefits to both the school district and its students that have a school physician. School physicians or other pediatricians serving on school boards or school health advisory groups can help develop sound school health policies such as climate safety standards for outdoor activity and emergency response procedures and school health services such as concussion management programs. A school physician can enhance student achievement by encouraging physical activity and better nutrition, and can improve student attendance by assisting in managing asthma and diabetes and paying attention to chronic school absenteeism. A school physician can also promote strong alliances among the family, medical home, and school. In light of the contributions a school physician can make to the overall well-being of a child, the statement recommends that every school district have a school physician and every school building a school nurse. Click here to read the full statement.
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