UNIT – EIGHT

SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICE

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Definition: -
School health service is a health service given at
school by health team includes nurse, teacher, and
school staff.

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Objectives
 Promotion of positive health
 Prevention of disease
 Timely diagnosis, Rx and follow up
 Health education to increase awareness about good and
bad health and illness
 Availability of healthful environment

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Priority health problems

 Major health problems of school children needing

special attention include
 Nutritional deficiency status
 Infectious parasitic
 Dental caries
 Skin diseases
 Eye disease
 Ear diseases
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Components

1.Health appraisal
 Each and every child must undergo a detailed
medical check up at the time of school entry
 Basic investigations like urine, stool, blood tests,
should also be done
 Daily morning inspection provides the teacher a
unique opportunity to suspect illness in the child
from such clues as change in disposition
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Cont.
 Rash
 Vomiting
 Neck stiffness
 Abnormal movement
 Red eye
 Fever
 Chills
 Diarrhea
 Bodily pain
 Joint swelling
 Itching
 Abdominal pain etc
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Cont.
2. Remedial/curative/ measure and follow up.
Health appraisal needs to support by necessary treatment and follow up

by the school medical officer or primarily health center or hospital.

3. Prevention of communicable disease

 It is important to draw a well planned immunization program against

communicable disease

4. Healthful environment
Site

Centrally located, appropriately fenced

Kept free from hazards

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Cont.
 At a fair distant from theater, bus, market, factories, industrial units
and railway tracks
 Land must be high free from inundation/flood and dampness and
properly drained.
 Class room: each room must have a capacity for comfortable
accommodating 40 children with a per capital space of 300 sq cm.
 Furniture: in accordance with the age group single desks. Chairs with
proper back rest
 Doors, windows, ventilators
 Windows must account for at least one-fourth of the floor space, it’s
height should be at 75 cm
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Cont.
 Color: class room inside wall color should be white
 Lighting
 Water supply: safe, clean and potable water
 Eating facilities
 Lavatory: separate toilet facilities needed for boys
and girls one urinal for low children and one latrine
for 100 children.

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Cont.
5. Nutritional service
6. First aid facilities
 School teachers should be in a position to provide first and emergency care
in such situations as accidents, fainting, vomiting, diarrhea and convulsions.
7. Mental health
 School curriculum should be so adjusted that there is sufficient relaxation
between periods of intense work.
 The teacher must never show discrimination in relation to religion Case,
community and social status. His efforts should be directed in assisting
all children attain mental health that develops them in to mature,
responsible and well-adjusted citizen.
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Cont.
 Provision of vocational and psychological counseling for guiding them for careers

suitable to them is desirable.

8. Dental health
Dental problems such as caries and periodontal diseases are common in school

children. Dental examination once a year should be a part of the school health

programs.

9. Eye health
Early detection of such eye problems as squint, trachoma, night blindness and other

manifestations of vitamin A deficiency and refractory errors with remedial action is an

important component of school health program

10 Ear health
 Ear, nose and throat problems are quite common in school children
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Cont.
11. Health education: includes especially
a) Personal hygiene: attention to skin hair, nails, teeth,
clothing,.
b)Environmental health: keeping environment clean
both participation in community health programs
such as construction of sanitary wells and latrines.
c. Educational of hand caped children

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Cont.
12. School health records: In order to provide continuing health supervision, school

health records should provide the following information:

 Name, date of birth, parents names and address with telephone number

 Past health history

 Record of physical examination and screening test

 Record of illness, immunization services rendered

N.B:
An important component of school health program is training of the teachers in the

basic concepts of hygiene, nutrition, prevention and early detection of morbidities.

 Teachers can also act as liaison agents between children and health care providers.

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Thank you
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