America's Youth: Managed Care's Most Valuable Population

This briefing paper focuses on collaborations between schools, the health industry (specifically managed care organizations or MCOs), and all other agencies which have vested interests in promoting the health and success of children. The paper presents a vision of health that includes both medical and behavioral components, asserting that health care plans that best provide for children include a continuum of care focusing on both prevention and intervention. Specifically, the paper argues that schools, social service providers, and the health care industry need to form new collaborations to assure effective prevention programming in their health policies for all children. The paper defines "prevention" and "wellness," discusses the state of the health care industry, outlines the challenges for child advocates in promoting a more holistic view of health care for children, and discusses the role of schools in integrated child health support systems. The paper concludes that education should play a proactive role in health care by collaborating with health care providers and policymakers to ensure that children and youth receive preventive care, that existing health care programs in schools are well funded, and that educators are properly trained to recognize health problems in their early stages. Contains 18 references. (EV)