Different setting, different care: Integrating prevention and clinical care in school-based health centers

Abstract

School-based health centers (SBHCs) are widely credited with increasing students' access to care by making health services affordable and convenient. SBHCs can also provide a qualitatively different type of health care for children and adolescents than that delivered by community providers. Health services offered in a school setting can integrate clinical care with public health interventions and environmental change strategies. This ability to reach outside the walls of the exam room makes SBHCs uniquely positioned to address the multiple determinants of health. We describe innovative California SBHC programs focusing on obesity prevention, asthma, mental health, and oral health that represent new models of health care for children and adolescents.