Mini-groups for school children: preventive self-help groups that teach physicians.

School Health Program mini-groups were initiated with a two-fold purpose: (1) to create an environment in which a young person is able to explore a self-identified concern in a group setting, and (2) to provide one of several school-based learning experiences for pediatric residents. Drawing on past successes, the program will now channel its efforts toward developing evaluative research methodology and expanding the mini-group experience to include trainees from other disciplines concerned with the health, learning and behavior of children.

Non-health professionals and the school-age child. Treatment of minor acute health problems.

In order to meet the minor acute health needs of the school-age child in an effective and efficient manner, school health workers were trained to follow standards of problem solving with the aid of a problem-specific reporting form for seven common minor acute problems. During the operation of the program, the workers displayed a high degree of compliance with standards of the problem-solving process. The program resulted in a substantial reduction in the work load for the minor acute problems, and there was a reduction in the number of unnecessary trips to the clinic for minor problems.