Description:
As Nevada considers ways to improve its education system, there is an opportunity to think about the connection between education and health. This connection is well established by research: people with higher levels of education live healthier and longer lives. They tend to engage in healthier behaviors, have lower rates of illness, and higher life expectancies. This health impact assessment (HIA) considers how expansion of FDK in Nevada could affect health. HIA provides a systematic process that uses available data to consider how decisions could affect health and, through recommendations, highlights opportunities to enhance health. An HIA consists of 6 steps: (1) screening, (2) scoping, (3) assessment, (4) recommendations, (5) reporting, and (6) monitoring and evaluation. With funding from the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, and guidance from stakeholders, including HIA Steering Committee members, and the Kansas Health Institute, the HIA team conducted an HIA to determine how changing access to FDK in Nevada could impact health in the state. With additional input from community members through a survey and focus group, the team studied how modifications to FDK access could potentially affect health through possible changes to: (1) educational attainment, (2) physical development (nutrition and physical activity), and (3) availability of school-based services (school meals and vision and hearing screenings). In order to do this, the team collected publicly available data, studied existing literature, and obtained data from school districts in Nevada. The HIA used that information, along with feedback from stakeholders, to assess how changes to FDK could possibly impact health in these areas. With additional feedback from the Steering Committee and a community survey, the team produced FDK-related recommendations that have the potential to improve health in Nevada. (author abstract)
Resource Type:
Reports & Papers
Funder(s):
Country:
United States
State(s)/Territories/Tribal Nation(s):
Nevada