Background
This project assessed the general health and health risks of Milwaukee youth. The main goal of this multi-level, systems-based project was to collect health data on a sample of Milwaukee Public School children with the long term goal of using that data to craft health interventions to address the most pressing health needs of the students.
Objectives
To assess the health of youth broadly and interface new health information with existing technologies, with specific goals including:
- Increase the quantity and quality of health data collected on MPS school children ages 6-11 and assessing the health of the students;
- Developing reports of the health of the students at each school to provide feedback to the school's preventive health intervention team.
Methods
The design was multi-focused, multi-method with three basic activities:
- Implementing a child health and illness survey and brief health assessment;
- Conducting a telephone follow-up with parents to update and add to the health information contact cards sent by MPS;
- Linking health information collected in activities 1 and 2 with extracts of existing Electronic Student Information System (ESIS) data. The above activities were conducted at eight MPS schools to obtain a diverse sample: Four schools on the predominantly African American north side and four schools on the predominantly Latino south side. Data was collected from both 1st and 4th grade school children.
Conclusions
- Socio-economic disadvantage may contribute more significantly to the prevalence of overweight and hypertension than ethnic minority status
- Associations between overweight and blood pressure levels suggest that children overweight or at risk for overweight should be screened for elevated blood pressure
- Evidence of a link between student health and school achievement support the need for community and environmental level health improvement activities.
- Use of standardized screening measures such as the Children with Special Health Care Needs Screener can be used at the schools for screening purposes and for targeting of health resources and broad-based interventions.
Timeline
January 2005 – June 2007
Funding source
The Wisconsin Partnership Fund for a Healthy Future
Key Partners
Center for Urban Population Health
- Ron Cisler, PhD, Principal Investigator
- Loren Galvao, MD, MPH, Co-Investigator
- Susan Partington, PhD, Co-Investigator
- Jessica Bergstrom, MPH, Project Coordinator
Milwaukee Public Schools
- Kathleen Murphy, RN, MSN, APRN-BC, Coordinator of School Health
UWM Institute for Urban Health Partnerships
- Elizabeth Fayram, PhD, RN (Consultant)
- Sally Lundeen, PhD, RN, FAAN (Consultant)
- Paula Lucey, RN, MSN (Consultant)
- Mary Jo Baisch, PhD, RN (Consultant)
