Coordinated School Health

Health and education are inextricably intertwined, as indicated with examples of research from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) below:

• Poor health has a relationship with poor academics
• Poor health is related to poor attendance
• A lack of education is one of the social determinants of poor health
• Current evidence suggests that improving graduation rates to reduce health disparities and improve health may be more cost-effective than investing only in medical interventions

Using the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child approach, IU Health provides a school health coordinator to improve the health environment for students and staff of the local school districts. Efforts include building capacity, collaboration and partnerships to increase the number of resources dedicated to health and wellness programming, curriculum, professional development, events, everyday practices and policy changes.

This initiative is made possible by multiple funding partners over the years:

• IU Health Foundation
• IU Health Bloomington Hospital
• IU School of Public Health - Bloomington
• The Community Foundation of Bloomington & Monroe County
• Monroe County Community School Corporation
• Bloomington Health Foundation
• Premier Health Foundation

This program is currently serving school districts in Monroe, Lawrence, Morgan, and Orange Counties. Learn more about Coordinated School Health and opportunities to volunteer by contacting Lisa Greathouse, Lgreathouse@iuhealth.org, or 812.353.5764.