The Claxton Elementary School Health Program: merging perceptions and behaviors to identify problems.
The Claxton Elementary School Health Program was developed to improve the health of a school community in a western North Carolina city of 60,000. Using the principles of Community-Oriented Primary Care (COPC) in fall 1991, a health advisory board composed of interested parents, teachers, and physicians was organized. A comprehensive needs assessment was implemented, including focus groups with teachers and parents, a self-administered health behavior survey for children in grades three-five, and a self-administered survey of parents' health problems. Teachers, children, and parents agreed on perceived problems requiring attention. The Board then prioritized health problems, selecting nutrition and self-concept as the most critical areas in which to develop programs. Using target population members to identify needs can be a valuable approach to the development of community-based programs for improving children's health behaviors.
Landis
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Schools of Medicine and Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.
Janes
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D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D005178:Faculty; D017144:Focus Groups; D015438:Health Behavior; D006292:Health Priorities; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D010290:Parents; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016730:Program Development; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*