Managing and preventing chronic health problems in children and youth: School psychology's expanded mission

Central to the mission of school psychology is improving the instructional outcomes of students by removing barriers to education, which may include c hildren's health and mental health problems. Recent reforms in education an d health care are expanding the mission of schools and creating the need fo r community schools that address the needs of the whole child including aca demic, social, emotional, and health issues. Within community schools, exci ting new roles are emerging for school psychologists to address the needs o f children and youth with or at risk for health problems. These roles encom pass the domains of intervention, program development, training, and applie d research. This article describes potential roles for school psychologists for managing and preventing chronic health problems. To take advantage of these opportunities, school psychologists are challenged to shift their uni t of analysis from a focus upon the individual child to an examination of s chool and community systems that promote or impede the expression of health y behavior.