Sr. Shaw et al., SCHOOL-LINKED AND SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH-SERVICES - A RENEWED CALL FOR COLLABORATION BETWEEN SCHOOL-PSYCHOLOGISTS AND MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, Psychology in the schools, 32(3), 1995, pp. 190-201
Health care and education reform provide opportunities to build system
s that promote rather than retard collaboration between school psychol
ogists and medical professionals. School-linked and school-based healt
h services (SLSBHS) are a family of approaches that provide medical, s
ocial, and mental health services to students through school settings.
These services have potential to provide more than acute care or firs
t-aid services. SLSBHS provide medical care to uninsured children, stu
dents with chronic medical needs, at-risk children, and the overall sc
hool population. However, there are usually not enough funds to hire n
ew staff members in most school districts. Expanding the roles of curr
ent school staff, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, and imple
menting creative fiscal strategies are necessary to develop SLSBHS. In
terdisciplinary collaboration may be the largest hurdle to developing
SLSBHS. As such, school psychologists and medical professionals may ne
ed to rethink their professional roles and develop new techniques of i
nterdisciplinary consultation to fulfill the potential of SLSBHS.