Helping Students with Chronic Illness: The Importance of School-based Data
This symposium explores the importance of including school-based data when researching or addressing health issues because clinic-based research often ignores classroom variables and teacher concerns. Presentation of four papers is the basis for discussion about pediatric school psychology intervention and prevention. Presenters summarize key points from their research, with projects investigating type 1 diabetes mellitus, childhood cancer, asthma, and HIV. Discussion will highlight the importance of including educational variables when examining health-related issues. Attendees will understand the limitations of clinic-based data in its application to school-based intervention while learning specific approaches to address chronic conditions. They will also hear about future directions of pediatric school psychology as a subspecialty.