School Attendance as a Vital Sign: Integrating school attendance into practice to advance health and educational equity

Leader(s)

• 

  Megan Tschudy, MD, MPH

  Associate Professor
  Pediatrics
  Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  BALTIMORE, Maryland, United States

Co-Leader(s)

• 

  Jaytoya Manget, DNP, MSPH, FNP

  Faculty Nurse Practitioner
  Children's National Hospital
  LAUREL, Maryland, United States
• BJ

  Bianca Johnson, Masters of Social Work (she/her/hers)

  Program Coordinator
  Children's National Health System
  Washington DC, District of Columbia, United States
• 

  Jessica Weisz, MD

  Assistant Professor
  Children's National Health System
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States
• 

  Aida Semere, MPS (she/her/hers)

  CRISP DC Product and Grants Manager
  University of Maryland, Baltimore County
  Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States
• 

  Andrea Boudreaux, PsyD MPH MHA FACHE (she/her/hers)

  Executive Director
  Children's National Hospital
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States
• 

  Nathaniel Beers, MD, MPA (he/him/his)

  Executive Vice President of Community and Population Health
  Children's National Hospital
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Workshop

Description: Chronic Absenteeism should be a pediatric vital sign – a core metric for health and health care progress – as designated by The National Academy of Medicine and affects students inequitably as discussed in the AAP 2019 policy statement “The Link Between School Attendance and Good Health”. How can school attendance data be shared and effectively integrated into pediatric clinical practice? This workshop is for anyone who has ever dreamed of better incorporating attendance data into practice and aligning the health and education systems through data-sharing to advance academic and health equity.

Using a learner-centered approach, through interactive small group activities, we will guide participants in developing a plan to 1) educate clinicians and staff on the connection between school attendance and health, 2) engage and support partners in the school and healthcare system, 3) address legal and technical aspects of data-sharing, and 4) implement clinical outreach to reduce barriers to school attendance. The workshop is led by a multidisciplinary team including clinicians, mental health professionals, school health leaders, and health information exchange experts and will incorporate lessons learned and best practices from an attendance data-sharing learning collaborative.

Participants will utilize an interactive toolkit that walks them through consent processes, data transmission, community engagement, clinical practice flow, and interventions. They will also receive access to an online module that trains clinicians to address school attendance in pediatric practice. Participants will leave with a practical framework, action plan, and tools for data-sharing and integrating attendance data into their clinical practice.