Report to President Highlights HSC’s School Health Initiative

July 29, 2014 | Written By: Healthy Schools Campaign

In February HSC, in partnership with Trust for America’s Health, launched the National Collaborative on Education and Health to bring together advocates, policymakers, school stakeholders and funders to work towards more fully integrating education and health. This means building schools’ capacity to address the needs that exist today and the needs we can’t yet anticipate. It is also about building the health sector’s capacity to engage the community, including schools, in truly promoting health.

The Collaborative builds on the charge former Surgeon General Regina Benjamin gave in response to HSC’s Health in Mind report. Dr. Benjamin challenged the Working Group on Health and Education to reimagine our nation’s paradigm on school health and identified the collaboration of the health and education sectors as a key strategy for implementing the National Prevention Strategy.

That is why were were pleased to see the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council (the National Prevention Council), a group made up of 20 federal agencies that is chaired by the Surgeon General, highlight the formation and work of the Collaborative in its annual status report. This annual status report, which is submitted to the President and relevant committees of Congress, highlights achievements of the National Prevention Council, their progress towards implementing the National Prevention Strategy and the implementation efforts by public and private partners.

HSC was honored to have the work of the Collaborative highlighted in this report and commends the Acting Surgeon General and the National Prevention Council for their recognition of this issue and support of the Collaborative.

HSC and its partners continue to move the work of the Collaborative forward. This August, two working groups will be convened as a part of the Collaborative to explore two immediate opportunities for improving the conditions of health in schools across the country. The first working group will examine strategies for integrating health and wellness measures into public reporting systems and the second working group will explore opportunities for increasing access to school health services. Each working group will bring together health and education policy makers, thought leaders and practitioners to discuss these issues.

We encourage you to read the National Prevention Council’s annual status report and learn more about the progress made towards moving the nation from a focus on sickness and disease to one based on prevention and wellness. We look forward to continuing to support this vision through our work with the Collaborative.