School-Based Health Services and Adolescent Wellbeing

School-based health services integrate primary care, mental health support and preventive interventions within educational settings to address the diverse health needs of adolescents. By embedding multidisciplinary teams—often comprising physicians, nurses, mental health professionals and allied health workers—directly into schools, these programmes aim to overcome barriers to access, reduce socioeconomic disparities and promote early identification of health issues that may affect educational outcomes. Services may range from routine screenings and immunisations to on-site counselling for mental health concerns, dental care and nutritional guidance. Evidence indicates that such interventions can enhance vaccination coverage, facilitate management of chronic conditions such as asthma, and mitigate risk factors for obesity and depression. Moreover, the co-location of health services in the familiar school environment fosters sustained engagement with marginalised populations, potentially improving attendance, academic performance and overall wellbeing. This approach aligns with a growing recognition that health and education outcomes are inextricably linked and that schools represent a critical platform for advancing health equity on a global scale.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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School-Based Health Services and Adolescent Wellbeing publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in school-based health services and adolescent wellbeing across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

School-Based Health Centre (SBHC): A primary care or multi-disciplinary health clinic located within a school, designed to provide accessible medical, mental health and preventive services to students.

Difference-in-Differences Analysis: A quasi-experimental statistical method that compares changes in outcomes over time between a treatment group and a comparison group to infer causal effects.

Prospective Intervention Study: A research design in which participants are followed forward in time to evaluate the effects of a planned programme or intervention under real-world conditions.

References

1. School-Based Health Centers, Access to Care, and Income-Based Disparities. JAMA Network Open (2023).
2. Investigating the effectiveness of school health services delivered by a health provider: A systematic review of systematic reviews. PLOS ONE (2019).
3. School Attendance Following Receipt of Care From a School-Based Health Center. Journal of Adolescent Health (2023).
4. Adolescent health and well-being check-up programme in three African cities (Y-Check): protocol for a multimethod, prospective, hybrid implementation-effectiveness study. BMJ Open (2024).