Student, Health Status and School Health Service Model of Basic Education Institutions in Mueang District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province

Abstract

The objectives of this cross-sectional descriptive with mixed methods design were to study the students’ health status and the school health service model of basic education institutions in Mueang district, Nakhon Ratchasima province. The samples were 1,397 elementary school students, grades 1-6, from 11 schools in Nakhon Ratchasima primary educational service area office 1 selected using stratified sampling technique. The data collection instruments included student health records, focus group discussions, participatory observation and environmental surveys. The data were collected between January and June 2024 and were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, and content analyses.

The findings revealed that: 1) the majority of the samples were males (52.68%), aged between 6-12 years, and were currently studying in grade 6 (19.61%); 2) regarding health status, most common health problems among students, in order, were as follows: dental caries (55.33%), having lice (19.11%), overweight and obesity (19.04%), abnormal vision (16.68%), wasting (12.67%), and abnormal hearing (0.14%); 3) school health services included a) health assessment and screening, b) primary medical care, advice and referrals for care, c) health education, d) development of student leaders to promote health, and e) advices for student health improvement. The results suggested that dental caries, lice, malnutrition, vision and hearing problems were still problems among school-aged children. Schools should improve health and classroom teachers’ potential and abilities for student health screening and counseling on basic health issues, including coordinating with public health and dental professionals to continuously screen students' health according to the standards of health promoting schools.