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1.0 Introduction 2.0 Objectives 3.0 Main Content

3.1 Definition of Home 3.2 Reasons for Home Visit

3.3 The Role of the School Health Personnel 3.4 What to do During Home Visit

3.4.1 How to Conduct Home Visiting 3.4.2 Materials Needed for Home Visit 3.4.3 After Home Visit

4.0 Conclusion 5.0 Summary

6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment 7.0 References / Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In this unit you will learn about home visiting, its rationale in School Health Services Programme and how it can be organised in the community. Before we do this, let us have a view of what you should learn in this unit, as indicated in the unit objectives below:

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit you should be able to:

• define home visiting.

• state the reason for home visiting,

• mention the advantages of home visiting,

• discuss how to conduct home visiting.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Definition of Home Visiting

For children who are unable to attend school, education should be available in an alternative setting such as rehabilitation centre, hospital or the home. Home visiting therefore is a method of reaching out to the family in order to help those school children with special problems.

3.2 The Reasons for Conducting Home Visit Are to

find out how the home situation contributes to the child‟s problems.;

teach some preventive measures to the parents;

give the parents the opportunity to learnabout school health;

see the family in their own environment and create rapport with them for effective management of health problems.

3.3 Role of the School Health Personnel

Home visiting had evolved from sanitary inspection of homes of

school children to what it has become today. The roles of school health personnel may include the following:

Serves as liaison between home and school regarding health concern keep home visits record, record health histories assess long term illnesses, implement case management within the school setting , participate in parent health personnel conferences, provide information and referral to community resources, involve with parent groups and provide activities for health promotion and education.

3.4 During Home Visits, School Health Personnel Can Establish rapport with the student‟s family support system,

Assess family strength and needs, including limitations and barriers to the student achievement. The students need for community health resources, and the student‟s behaviour and reactions to home situations in partnership with the family, plan school health services that promote and support family goals to maximise functional

capabilities, including the student‟s self- care independence, and future school attendance, and provide for family/ student participation in health promotion, maintenance, and restoration, including providing information needed to make decisions and choices about using health care resources.

3.4.1 How to Conduct Home Visiting

Select the families to be visited i.e. children with problems: Review available school and health records prior to home visits Review current health care plans, Identify objectives for the visit Contact student‟s health care provider, when appropriate for question and / or concerns, Plan time of visits to optimise safety and effectiveness, Make an appointment in advance of the visit

Log in and out at school office, noting the telephone number and address of the home to be visited, time of departure, and expected return, Avoid going alone to neighbourhoods known to be dangerous.

Wear identification (e.g name badge ) and greet the family warmly and establish rapport ask relevant questions, observe the home and surrounding environment,

significant socio-cultural influences, and interactions of family member, identify health care needs/ problems, based on subjective and objective data, and involve the family members in the process, list problems in order of importance in accordance with family perceptions, counsel and educate them on matters affecting the child and the family. Any minor ailments discovered are treated according to standing orders while major conditions are referred for better management to appropriate health care providers.

Inspect the surroundings for any public nuisance and educate accordingly.

Discuss alternative solutions and available community resources, Assist in the development of a plan for the appropriate interventions and establish a time to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan. Share the plan with appropriate persons involved in the health care of the student.

3.4.2 Materials Needed for Home Visiting

The materials needed for home visiting are: home visit bag

home based records, drugs like anti malarias, analgesic and haematinics, note book to write report, referral cards

standing orders.

3.4.3 After the Home Visit, School Health Personnel Should Record and Document

Subjective and objective data, problems identified, and plan of action including time line for achieving planned interventions and future plans and recommendations for home-visits. Write report on home visits stating: Condition of the home and family. How the home condition has affected the health of the child. Any illness treated or referred cases.

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit you have learnt about home visiting in School Health Programme, the reason for home visit, and the role of the school health personnel during home-visits, what to do during home-visits, the material needed for home visits and how to report home-visits.

You should at this point be able to state the reasons for home visiting in school health programme. You should also be able to describe how

to conduct home visits, including what to do during the visits as well as how to write the report of home visit.

5.0 SUMMARY

This unit has focused on Home Visiting in School Health Programme – as a method of reaching out to the family in order to help those school children with special problem.

This is because a child‟s home environment can contribute to the child‟s problem.

Other reasons for home visiting can be to render preventive, curative and referral services. How to conduct and report home visits were also described.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Describe how to conduct a home visit to the home of a child that seems to be having emotional problems that have resulted in poor academic performance.

7.0 REFERENCES / FURTHER READING

Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services. (1992). School Health Session Plans. Training and Manpower D e v el o p me n t Division ,Lagos , Nigeria American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on School Health November. ( 2000).

Position Statement :home, Hospital, and Other Non-School-based Instruction Instruction for Children and Adolescents Who Are Medically Unable to Attend School. ( on-line ) .Available

:http://www.aap.org/policy/re9956.html.

Cynthia Black, R.N. (2001 ). High School Nurse‟s Office: Burkburnet High (on-line )

.Available :http//www.esc9.net/burkburnettisd/bhnurse.htm

UNIT 6 EVALUATION OF SCHOOL HEALTH