1. Tools For Promoting Good Health for Children
Chapter 2

2. Caregivers Can’t Diagnose
As caregivers we cannot diagnose a physical, mental or emotional health problem or learning disorder. We can describe symptoms and refer families to appropriate professionals for diagnosis and treatment.

3. Health Policies The strategies we use to manage health risk.
Important strategies include:
Observation and documentation
Evaluation:
Daily quick check
General and mental health appraisal
Screening for growth and development
Nutritional assessment

4. Observation & Documentation
Observations can be
general, ie. for health status (physical and emotional)
specific ie. symptoms
Observation tools:
Be objective, not subjective
Don’t over-generalize
See chart p. 56
Documentation includes: checklists (p 58), normative charts (p 439), symptom record (p 433), incident report (p 435)

5. Daily Morning Quick Check
Symptoms that are listed in your exclusion policy that are observed during quick check are grounds for sending the child home right away
See list, p I would add acts feverish

6. General Health Appraisal
More in-depth and long term observation than Quick Check
Appraisal is the regular process of evaluating health or developmental norms. May be triggered when warning signs of possible illness are observed over time. Ex frequent sneezing may indicate an allergy to something in the environment
Best if conducted with co-operation of parent
May lead to referral to a health practitioner

7. Screening For Growth and Developmental Norms
Done periodically (quarterly)
Be aware of cultural/racial differences in norms ex. Asian children tend to be shorter and less heavy than African-Americans
Height and weight (p )
Vision and hearing (p 68)
Motor development (p 62-3)
Speech and language (p 69)
Nutrition (p 76)

8. Suspecting Problems
If a caregiver suspects a health problem, a screening may not provide enough information to make a determination
If a problem is suspected the child should be referred to a health professional for in-depth assessment

9. Implications for Caregivers
Be culturally sensitive: approach parents about concerns within a cultural context that is meaningful to them. Ex. Hmong beliefs about illness
Provide supervision: As staff size grows, supervision needs increase as we insure the health of the students in our care