About the CSH-CAP Initiative

In 1994, the AAP launched its Comprehensive School Health Capacity and Policy (CSH-CAP) Initiative. Funded by the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health through a subcontract to its cooperative agreement with the American Medical Association, the initiative seeks to increase the number of pediatricians who interact with the school health program by providing pediatricians with support, education, and technical assistance.

Pediatricians have long supported the use of schools to promote the health and safety of children. A 1995 AAP survey found that 1 in 5 pediatricians worked with local school health programs but that more than 50% wanted to spend more time in this area.* The CSH-CAP Initiative is enabling the AAP, through its Committee on School Health and its Section on School Health, to reach out to both its pediatrician members and other professionals in school health.

The initiative has allowed the AAP to distribute complimentary copies of its manual, School Health: Policy and Practice, to all U.S. school districts. Nearly 2000 pediatricians involved in school health and willing to consult with others have been identified. A Web site, www.schoolhealth.org, featuring contact information for leaders in school health, as well as education on school health topics for pediatricians and other health care professionals has been established. To reach out to other school professionals and encourage collaboration, the AAP has sponsored educational programs at meetings of the National Association of School Nurses, the American Association of School Administrators, the National Assembly on School-based Health Care, the American School Health Association and others. Finally, the AAP Committee on School Health held its biannual meetings in states funded by the CDC to develop coordinated school health infrastructures to facilitate pediatrician support of those projects.

A key component of the initiative was the School Health Leadership Training Conference on June 7-8, 1997, in Atlanta, Georgia, which established a national leadership of pediatricians willing to train others on school health issues. Pediatrician representatives from 57 AAP chapters (which correspond roughly to states) and more than 30 faculty came to this "train the trainers" event to hone their skills and share experience and expertise on a variety of topics. Over the next 2 years, many conference participants trained other pediatricians in their chapters on how to work with schools.

For more information, contact:

Spencer Su Li, MPA
Manager, Division of Child and Adolescent Health
American Academy of Pediatrics
141 Northwest Point Blvd
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
Phone: 847/434-7396
Fax: 847/434-8000
E-mail: schoolhealth@aap.org