How school health clinics affect children's care and future outcomes
Understanding the Short- and Long-Term Impacts of School-Based Health Centers
This project looks at whether having a health clinic at a school changes how kids use medicines and health services and how it affects their school and later life outcomes.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Northwestern University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chicago, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11311317 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If your child attends school, this project looks at how a school-based health clinic changes their use of medicines, doctor visits, and supports while young. The team links openings of over 1,800 school clinics to 13 years of national prescription records and nearly a decade of Medicaid claims to compare students before and after a clinic opens and to similar schools without clinics. They use difference-in-differences methods to separate clinic effects from other differences between schools. The study focuses especially on psychotropic medications (antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs, antipsychotics) and on short- and long-term behavioral, educational, and economic outcomes.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Children and adolescents who attend schools with or without a school-based health center, especially students enrolled in Medicaid or those receiving mental health medications, are the groups included in the analysis.
Not a fit: Adults who are not school-aged and children who never attend a school with a school-based health center are unlikely to receive direct benefits from this study.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could show whether school clinics help children get appropriate care, change use of psychotropic medicines, and improve health and school success over time.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies report links between school-based health centers and better health care use and educational outcomes, but this project uses national data and stronger causal methods to more clearly measure effects.
Where this research is happening
Chicago, UNITED STATES
- Northwestern University — Chicago, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Schnell, Molly — Northwestern University
- Study coordinator: Schnell, Molly
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.