Determining the Status of

Wisconsin Health Services

The purpose of this project is to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the current health services infrastructure in Wisconsin public schools using collaborative leadership strategies.

Partners:

• Center for Healthy Communities, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Public Health Association
• Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards (WALHDAB)
• Wisconsin Association of School Nurses
• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
• Wisconsin Division of Public Health, Bureau of Health Information/Policy

Goals of the Program:

• Convene an interdisciplinary and multi-sector advisory committee
• Assess required and permissive authories for school health in Wisconsin statutes and administrative rules and compare them to national standards and best practices
• Survey a representative sample of school officials, health department officials, and parents/guardians regarding the level of school health services that are provided
• Conduct at least four formal focus groups comprised of local school nurses and public health nurses to determine their perception of the capacity of the current service delivery system to meet the current and emerging needs of school age children and youths
• Self-monitoring and accountability of the partnership through a self-assessment tool

Project period:

• July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008

Accomplishments to Date:

•  Convene advisory group to offer feedback on drafts/information on survey, statues, and focus group
• Drafted surveys, pretest, secure consensus on methods and design
• A review of Wisconsin's current statutes and administrative rules were conduced by partners from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the Wisconsin Association of School Nurses, and the Division of Public Health.

Current Activities:

• Finalize survey and statutes process and implement
• Identify preliminary list key informants for the survey and list of key informants for the four formal nursing focus groups

Future Plans:

• Recruit for, schedule, and conduct focus groups
• Conduct partnership assessment
• Prepare draft policy report, call to action, with recommedations
• Compile final report

Funding Source:

• Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program