The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #62069

Anu Partap, MD, MPH¹, Valerie James, MPH², Kathleen Mathieson, PhD³, and Bertha Martinez¹. (1) Department of Pediatrics, Maricopa Integrated Health System/MedPro, 2601 East Roosevelt, Phoenix, AZ 85008, (2) Healthy Childcare Arizona, 2601 E. Roosevelt St., Phoenix, AZ 85008, (3) Academic Affairs, Maricopa Integrated Health System, 2601 E. Roosevelt St., Phoenix, AZ 85008, 602-344-5427, Kathleen.Mathieson@hcs.maricopa.gov

Early childhood settings have been considered a promising location for SCHIP recruitment. This paper describes an effort to increase SCHIP enrollment in Arizona early childhood settings via half-day trainings linking childcare providers with SCHIP experts. The half-day trainings were aimed at giving providers the knowledge to identify uninsured children in their care, and preparing providers to engage in SCHIP enrollment. Baseline knowledge and recruitment practices related to SCHIP were assessed through surveys completed by providers prior to each training (N=183). Most childcare providers (83%) had a broad awareness of SCHIP and believed that insurance plays an important role in helping children stay healthy (93%). Many providers (60%), however, were not screening children for health insurance status, and among those who were, many did not have SCHIP information or applications – largely because they did not know how to obtain such materials. An opportunity to systematically screen children for lack of insurance lies in the State Blue Card, a health information form that must be completed for children in licensed childcare, but lacks insurance information. Forty-six percent of providers not routinely screening for health insurance were completing the State Blue Card. These results show that important system components to facilitate SCHIP enrollment in childcare settings are often missing, and reveal which processes could be changed at a public health level to promote such enrollment. Follow-up surveys are currently being conducted with childcare providers who attended the SCHIP trainings. These data will show whether training is a sufficient tool for changing provider behaviors.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the current SCHIP-enrollment practices of childcare providers in Arizona, as evidenced by the study's survey data.
• Be able to list at least two system components that could facilitate SCHIP enrollment in childcare settings, but were lacking in the sample of childcare providers.
• Identify processes that could be changed at a public health level to increase SCHIP-related practices among childcare providers.

Keywords: Child Care, Children's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.