School-Based Health Centers, Access to Care, and Income-Based Disparities.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

School-based health centers (SBHCs) are primary care clinics colocated at schools. SBHCs have the potential to improve health care access and reduce disparities, but there is limited rigorous evidence on their effectiveness at the national level.

Objective

To determine whether county-level adoption of SBHCs was associated with access, utilization, and health among children from low-income families and to measure reductions in income-based disparities.

Design, setting, and participants

This survey study used a difference-in-differences design and data from a nationally representative sample of children in the US merged with SBHC indicators from the National Census of School-Based Health Centers. The main sample included children aged 5 to 17 years with famil

SUBMITTER: Boudreaux M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10507491 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature