Health appraisal is an evaluation of the current health status of the school children. It is the process that seeks to determine the total health status of children through:
(a) Parent, teacher and nurse observations (b) Screening tests for visual and auditory acuity (c) Physical fitness tests.
Health counselling is the procedures that are carried out by doctors, nurses, counselors, teachers or other qualified personnel in order to interpret to pupils and parents the nature and significance of health problems.
Emergency care of sickness & injury: The school has the responsibility of giving immediate care in case of accident or sudden illnesses as well as notifying parents, getting children home or to some other places of safety and guiding parents, where necessary to sources of treatment.
Health screening: covers tests of vision, hearing and physical fitness of the school children. It also involves testing the height and weight of the children.
Medical examination: This involves periodic examination of the school children through health appraisal. It also involves referral examination which provides an opportunity for the doctor to check any reported cases of deviation from the normal health.
Health inspection involves observation of the physical appearance of children. This covers body cleanliness, finger-nails, hair, etc.
Provision of drugs/vaccines It is the collaborative responsibility of the home and school to provide drugs for the treatment of certain illnesses or health problems affecting children. Vaccines are also provided by the schools for the vaccination of children in prevention of certain health problems.
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Nutrition is the science of feeding. It is the responsibility of the school to feed the children. This constitutes part of the school health services.
Anthropometric assessment is concerned with the assessment/measuring the height, weight and body composition of the school children. This helps in determining the relationships between their height, weight and body composition.
Health evaluation is the procedure that is carried out to determine healthy growth and development of the children.
Dental examination is the procedure that aims at taking care of the mouth and teeth of the children. This procedure is carried out by a dentist.
Ambulatory service: It is the responsibility of the school to provide an ambulance for the conveyance of the school child who needs immediate proper medical attention. This involves provision of the ambulance for the transportation of the victim of any health circumstance to either the hospital or home.
Referral services: There are health problems which the school may not be able to properly handle due to lack of qualified personnel, complexity of the problem or lack of the facilities or equipment. In such cases, it becomes the responsibility of the school to make arrangement for sending the affected child to another medical centre.
Diagnostic examination: This is the further procedure from the health appraisal. Health appraisal procedures may reveal conditions that indicate the need for diagnostic examination ordinarily not in the health appraisal exercise. For example, a child suspected of being anaemic, or having tuberculosis needs further diagnostic examination for confirmation of his health problem.
Teachers’ health observations: Teachers occupy a very strategic position to observe the pupil’s physical and emotional wellbeing as well as his academic achievement. This is because the school boy or girl spends more of his time with the classroom teacher than with any other adult except the parents. The teacher sees the child on his “rainy day” as well as on his “sunny day”, witnesses his success and failures, observes his reactions and interactions with other children and is aware of any changes in the child’s behaviour. The scope of the teacher’s observation is quite extensive. The areas that are covered in the teacher’s observation may include:
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(a) General appearance of the children
(b) Eyes, ears, nose, throat, mouth, teeth, skin and scalps (c) Behaviour at play
(d) General behaviour
(e) Health attitude and practices (f) Children’s complaints (g) School attendance.
Provision of good sanitary conditions: This includes provision of clean toilet and bath room facilities for school children. School healthful living constitutes part of sanitary conditions.
Immunisation is the procedure taken by schools to prevent pupils from being affected by certain health problems e.g. polio, measles, tetanus, small pox, chicken pox, etc. This takes the form of vaccination of the children.
Provision of safety learning environment: This involves all measures taken to ensure that the learning environment is free from dangerous objects such as stones, sharp-pointed irons, nails, broken bottles, slippery grounds or floors, falling roofs or walls, etc. All these conditions endanger the lives of school children.
First aid treatment and emergency care: It is the responsibility of the school to take immediate actions in the case of injuries or sudden illnesses that may affect a school child. The immediate treatment given to an injured child before drawing the attention of the parents or before securing proper medical care is referred to as “first aid treatment”. This treatment is administered to prevent the victim’s situation from being deteriorated. Where there is no nurse, it is the responsibility of the health education teacher, to give first aid treatment.
Provision of first aid box and its content: Each school, under normal situation, should have a well equipped first aid box containing the following:
Adhesive compresses Sterile gauze
Roll of sterile gauze Triangular bandages Adhesive bandages Scissors
Tourniquet Splinter Splints
Safety pints Skin antiseptic Absorbent cotton Applicator sticks Tongue depressors Red cross first aid Manual
Record book Iodine, etc.
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Provision of health facility and equipment: Every school is required to have a health room or dispensary for emergency health care or first aid treatment. This health room should contain well equipped first aid box, diagnostic beds and other essential materials. This facility should be manned by health personnel such as nurses, doctors, dentists, etc.