2. Implementing School Coordinated Health Programs

This chapter discusses the steps it takes to establish and strengthen CSHP, and build district level support for a CSHP. Most schools have a few elements of a CSHP, but few have all of them. One way of implementing a successful program is by following these characteristics; finding a purpose and potential outcomes, value of identified needs, clarity of purpose, adaptability, replicability, consistency with schools mission, ease of implementation, credibility with school and community, capacity of broadening school and staff knowledge base, and potential ehance or support existing programs. The more these characteristics are used in an innovation, the more likely a school will adopt the program. Along with these characteristics, Rogers has five characteristics that a school can use to create a step by step process for promoting and successfully implementing the program. The process includes; relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Each process has questions that should be answered within the program to insure that it meets all the needs of a CSHP.
CSHP’s can not survive in a school system without support. It’s not only important for members and families of the school to have its back, but also for the district. Having a district level CSHP only makes both programs stronger as they each support the other. Leaders within the school and community can increase the successfulness of a CSHP by working together to meet the needs of the students and community members. Not all CSHP’s are the same, it is important that members of the program understand what issues at the time need to be focused on. This is important in establishing a healthy school team and identifying “key players” to represent the team. Key players should include staff within the school, health care specialists/professionals, parents, members of the community and health educators. The team should understand the importance of assessing student, family and staff needs; mapping existing school and community resources; identifying gaps and duplications; developing action plans; and monitoring implementation.
Other key informants that a team should do are: get the rest of the school staff to buy into the program. Make their needs a top priority so that they are willing to support you. Set up a safety net. Always have a back up in case a strategy causes conflict or falls through. Create a resource map of CSHP. This will help the team understand where they are, where the gaps are, and what is being duplicated. Identify student, family, and staff needs. Understanding their needs is the most important aspect when creating goals and objectives for the program. Identify an implementation and coordination plan. This can take some time, and will call for many resources as well as support to find the needs of the program. Find potential source of funding. Depending on the program, funding is often a major road block. Understand the federal and state funding requirements, as well as look for support locally. The last thing is to look for support from the district. If a district level CSHP is not built, then look to leaders within the district to help out.