Teenagers and their parents trust on-campus health centers as a primary “medical home,” according to two new studies.
One study surveyed a random sample of 497 parents of adolescents who use one of 15 school-based health centers in Denver. Eighty-three percent said they could always or usually trust their health center provider to take good care of their child and 82 percent were satisfied with the level of communication at the center. One-third of people said a student health center was their child’s main source of medical care.
Of the parents surveyed, 77 percent said the main reason they came to the centers was get their children vaccinated; 70 percent said they came for regular check-ups and 62 percent cited illness as the reason for visiting.
“These centers are focused on increasing access to care for underserved students, especially adolescents,” said study author Sean O’Leary, an investigator at the Children’s Outcomes Research Program, affiliated with the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Colorado. “Students can get check-ups, vaccinations, sick visits, mental health counseling and access to a pharmacy. And there is generally no co-payment.”
O’Leary presented the studies last week at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Fla.
The second study surveyed a random sample of 495 adolescents who had used a school-based health center. Almost 80 percent visited a center about three times in the last year and 34 percent said it was their primary source of medical care. The study also showed that 67 percent of teens were very satisfied with their care and 30 percent were somewhat satisfied.
The average age of students surveyed was 15. There are about 2,000 centers nationwide and the Affordable Care Act earmarks $200 million to build more. In Denver, they are generally staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants with oversight by pediatricians.