HEALTH SERVICES
As the primary caregivers, parents play the lead role in maintaining the health and nutrition of their children. Learning more about health, nutrition, and mental health assists parents in establishing healthy habits in the home and in securing access to needed services in the community.
By
working with parents, both individually and in groups, agencies assist families
to become more aware of basic aspects of health care systems, and the services
that are available to them. Staff and parent discussions about health care
emphasize the importance of parents understanding all medical and dental
procedures affecting their child, particularly as treatment relates to the
family's knowledge about child health and develop.
Head Start staff encourages parents to:
- Accompany their child to appointments, provide
emotional support, if the child is apprehensive, and ask providers to explain
medical conditions and procedures in understandable terms;
- Enroll in a system of ongoing family health care,
rather than relying upon emergency rooms. OWCAP Head Start provides the
names of addresses of medical practices, clinics, or health maintenance
organizations, including a list of providers who accept Medicaid, as well
as information about after-hours care and how to obtain medical advice by
telephone;
- Apply for Medicaid. Options for obtaining health
insurance or low-cost medical care are discussed, if the family is not eligible
for Medicaid;
- Recognize the importance of preventive care and
of detecting signs of health problems;
- Model healthy behaviors by having the child observe
parents going to the doctor and dentist; and
- Keep their child connected with a "medical
home," after the child leaves Head Start.