Abstract
School-based health centers (SBHCs) play a key role in connecting youth to health services, including primary care. Despite some literature exploring their mental health services, little is known about the role SBHCs play in screening for and treating eating disorders. In this study, we surveyed 56 SBHC providers, assessing their familiarity with providing care and screening for mental health concerns, including eating disorders. We also qualitatively explored areas to improve efforts around mental health care and screening. Results suggest that while the majority of participants indicated that they were familiar with mental health disorders, they were less familiar with eating disorders. Furthermore, despite rating screenings for eating disorders of great importance, the frequency of such screenings was comparably lower. Qualitative findings highlight two emerging themes focused on addressing gaps in mental health care: (a) training, continuing education, and addressing misconceptions around eating disorders; and (b) SBHC staffing and resource constraints.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
