Document Type
Master's Culminating Experience
Publication Date
2016
Abstract
School based health centers (SBHC) have been shown to benefit domestic populations both in terms of bettering health and bettering academics while being effective over the long term. There is, however, lacking evidence on how they impact immigrant and refugee communities, which are some of the most vulnerable United States communities in terms of health risks. Through discussion of literature, this paper defines and reviews the criteria for vulnerable populations and explains how this term applies to immigrant and refugee populations. School based health centers and their documented health and academic benefits for domestic high risk populations are discussed and extrapolated to the vulnerable immigrant and refugee populations. A case study of Kiser K-6, a school in Dayton, Ohio, is presented to illustrate the potential impact of a school based health center. The population of the neighborhoods in the Kiser K-6 district is described through census and neighborhood data to give a description of the school’s student body. Based on the evidence-based recommendations this manuscript recommends establishing an SBHC at Kiser K-6.
Repository Citation
Oliver, G. D. (2016). Immigrants and Refugees as Vulnerable Populations: Considerations for School Based Health Centers. Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
