Exploring relationships between school-based health clinics and academic performance in elementary school-aged children

Abstract

School based health clinics provide medical services and healthcare to students within the school setting. Research suggests that students who use school based health clinic services perform better academically in school by improving their attendance, health status, and addressing their medical needs. This retrospective study explored the relationship between school based health clinics and academic performance in elementary school-aged children. Academic performance was measured using students' final grades, New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK), and Language Arts Literacy (LAL) scores. Students were tracked longitudinally from grades 3--5 comparing students who used an onsite school based health clinic versus those who did not use an onsite school based health clinic. Results explore relationships between school based health clinic users versus school based health clinic non-users as well as differences between school based health clinic users and non-users. These findings suggest that having an onsite school based health clinic may improve academic performance in elementary school-aged children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)