School Health & Wellness Program

St.Vincent Health is committed to nurturing and building healthy lifestyles through partnerships with local schools.

Through these partnerships, St.Vincent Health has placed school nurses and health center assistants in educational settings. As a result, our community has seen more consistent health practices in schools, a reduction in absenteeism, and greater access for parents to find information regarding how to establish a medical home for their child with a primary care physician.

Additionally, St.Vincent Health, through the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital, is working with many schools to develop and implement their wellness policies and to meet their health and wellness goals.  For many schools, their wellness policy ensures that they continue to receive federal funding for free and reduced lunch programs.  We provide presentations on numerous topics such as nutrition and fitness, hands-on activities and a variety of resources to teach children how to live a healthy life, including:

• Asthma Education – We offer educational presentations to parents, students and teachers which provide information that empowers families and schools to better manage their child’s asthma.
• Child Abuse/Stranger Danger Education – This program teachers children how to communicate and recognize abuse and also reduces the risk of abduction by strangers.
• Germ Control – Based on the importance of hand washing, this program uses a black light and a fake “germ” substance to show children how well they wash their hands as well as how to properly clean their hands.
• Stuffee – This six-foot tall interactive doll unzips to show fabric organs, which are accurate representations of a human’s organs.  Stuffee has a heartbeat and children can hold and examine stuffed organs such as the heart, lungs, intestines and stomach.
• Heart Adventure Challenge Course – This activity allows children to gain a greater understanding of the heart and how it works by walking through the four larger-than-life chambers of the heart.
• Programming on Emotional Health Issues – From bullying to test anxiety, our staff at the St.Vincent Stress Center is available to provide presentations and information on a variety of mental health issues that can affect children in the school setting.

For additional information, please visit http://www.stvincent.org/ourservices/childrens/hospital/community/school.htm.