Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health Healthcare Centers in Schools received a $10,000 grant from the American Academy of Pediatrics to pilot life skills training and mentoring for high school seniors with diabetes to improve health outcomes. This award is part of the AAP’s initiative to incentivize partnerships to improve chronic disease management with funding from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
Through this program, Healthcare Centers in Schools works with families and teenagers to teach healthy eating through live cooking demonstrations. This spring, there are six community events to educate parents and students about how to prepare home-cooked meals that are appetizing, and diabetes-friendly. These events will be held at three local high schools where Healthcare Centers in Schools currently operates school-based clinics. In this pilot program, Healthcare Centers in Schools also provides direct counseling, mentorship, and life skills training to students graduating high school who have diabetes.
“This grant allowed Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health Healthcare Centers in Schools to expand our robust programming by providing support directly to the students we see every day in our school-based clinics,” said Nicole Scott, director of clinical services, Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health Healthcare Centers in Schools. “We have to prepare them for life without a school nurse helping to managing their diabetes during the day and teach them to make health choices when away from parents and guardians. We also want to make sure they know how to access the resources available to them at Our Lady of the Lake Health as they transition to adulthood and continue building health habits.”
Healthcare Centers in Schools, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation and a part of Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health, has provided medical services to students attending East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools since 1987. Beginning with one clinic at Westdale Middle School, and now operating seven clinics and schools nursing across East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools, providing care for more than 41,000 students in greater Baton Rouge.
“Complications from Type I diabetes can be severe for young people who struggle to manage their condition as a young adult. It is important that we do all that we can to prepare them for success during this pivotal period,” said Dr. Sylvia Sutton, Medical Director, Healthcare Centers in Schools. “This program, which includes cooking classes and education on managing diabetes, is a game changer for the students and their families that we serve.”