School-Based Health Centers: A Model for Improving the Health of the Nation's Children

Adolescence is often a challenging time, and these challenges become more daunting for children who live in poverty. Access to health care is an issue for these teens, and limited funds as well as the ability to get to health centers create further barriers, especially for preventive health care services. Adolescents today face many health care issues that will have a profound effect on their lives. The increased incidence of obesity and the subsequent morbidities such as type 2 diabetes will have lifelong effects on their health. The rising incidence of significant mental health disorders affects not only their ability to be successful in school but also their capability to function as independent adults. School-based health centers (SBHCs) are an innovative health delivery model that is ideally situated to address these morbidities. This article summarizes the health problems teens are facing in 2007 and the creative ways some SBHCs have addressed these problems.