Agenda - 02-01-1993 - III-B - Laserfiche WebLink

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-i- students plan health related activities for the school system. This group is currently active in several major teen health issues. The Peer Counseling program at the high school will be a wonderful avenue of information to students as its counterpart in Northern Orange has been. A cultural awareness group, Drive-a-Teen, Proconian(school newspaper), Student Government and Teen Awareness are samples of student groups who will be informed of clinic services and availability. We plan to make this student avenue the primary format for information sharing. In addition to existing student groups we hope to establish teen advisory groups in each school system to guide us on the best ways to advertise services and insure the quality of services. The school nurse is the most frequent referral and follow up source in our existing system. The school nurse in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro School System will also be a major referral source. These providers have been involved in the planning of this project and will actively utilize the clinic services as a referral source. School guidance counselors are the second most frequent source of referral in the existing project. We plan to educate the counselors in Southern Orange about availability of services. Counseling services to males has increased in the current program because many males have been reached through sports physicals. We will inform the coaching staff at each school about the clinic's availability for sports physicals. Other health department clinics will be informed about the clinic's mission and can refer students seen in STD or Family Planning Clinics to the teen clinic for primary care. This networking will be facilitated by the staff person who will be available during the first cycle of the grant to set up the clinic and the supporting network. This person will spend his/her time meeting with the above groups as he/she sets up the physical aspects of the clinic and have periodic meetings with key individual providers from each agency. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES The target community has a wealth of medical services available to its population. A major teaching hospital, a community health clinic and private physicians reach many people. The proposed clinic/outreach program will compliment these services by reaching students who still do not access primary care. School nurses report that previous bills, fear and confusion in the larger hospital setting, too many familiar faces in clinics, long waiting times for appointments, and transportation from school cause students to shy away from health care. When services are finally accessed, the continuity of care is frequently sacrificed by financial concerns causing the adolescent to change providers. The history of the existing model ,adolescent clinic model shows that these needs have been met for a large population of students who needed accessible inexpensive care. Services are provided to adolescents through the Orange County Health Department in a variety of programs which are free of charge except for sliding scale fees for dental work.. The Child Health Program provides well child exams, screening, and acute care. Services specific to the Northern Orange County branch are prenatal care which includes home visitation by health department nurses of high risk pregnant mothers and the Baby Love Program, nutrition and social work consultation and the Adolescent Clinic. The Adolescent Clinic provides evaluation and treatment of all primary care problems. When necessary, referrals for specialized care are made expediently and followed up by health department staff. Both clinical sites, Northern and Southern Orange County, provide comprehensive family planning, evaluation of treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, a minority AIDS education program implemented in the schools and dental services. The dental services included are routine cleanings, extractions and restorations. A full time nurse is provided for each school system by the health department to