Funded Projects

Pre-participation physicals that score!

Project Year

2024

City & State

Cincinnati, Ohio

Program Name

CATCH Planning

Topic

Access/Barriers to Health Care (LHI)

Program Description

The Problem:   PPE’s are required in Ohio, optimally done in the medical home and with expertise in sports medicine.  The Cincinnati Children’s Sports Medicine team previously found that an average of 47% (range:  31-63%) of SAs in these school systems receive PPEs at local retail clinics, not a medical home.  We found that past medical history, current medical issues, and care gaps are not adequately evaluated in these visits.  This places the student at risk for illness or injury in sports participation and creates further care gaps by not connecting students with appropriate health care services.  Unfortunately, because of barrier to health care in this population, retail clinics are easiest for students to access; if they do not get the PPE, they cannot play sports.  In fact, in the population for which this is proposed, multiple athletes in these schools were not able to practice or play for part of each season, due to lack of PPE.  Primary Setting: School districts with which Cincinnati Children’s Sports Medicine has partnerships to serve student-athletes for sports-related issues.  Geographically, this includes the Cincinnati, Ohio area (Hamilton, Butler, and Brown counties).  Number of children affected: About 1500 (2023 data) students could access this project through the schools.  This would serve students who are in contact with our Athletic Trainers there and also serve students who do not engage in school sports but otherwise need PPEs performed to participate in organized sports.    Project Goal: Ultimately, we seek to improve participation in and access to quality health care for these populations of adolescents. For this project: 1) Our goal is to design a sustainable PPE process, using an on-site mobile care center (MCC), to perform PPEs for students in schools who do not have a medical home for this need.   2) In addition, we aim to plan additional services needed (ex. adolescent primary care, vision evaluations, dental care) and plan efficient pathways of referral/access.    Proposed intervention: We will, collaboratively with 5 urban and rural school systems in the Cincinnati area, meet with each school (estimated 3-5 meetings per school); plan how to effectively offer PPE sessions for students/community youth.   A partial needs assessment has already been done in our Quality Improvement work.  With that needs assessment, we will meet with school/community stakeholders (ex. Principal, Athletic Director, School nurse, parent council, coaches) to determine how many PPE sessions would be needed within a year, how to communicate with families and students about the service, and how practically best to perform this.  Because the schools have different demographics, geographical challenges, and needs, planning at each school will be different.   We will also partner with our Adolescent Medicine team to plan immediate access for students needing primary care.  This involves regular planning meetings for logistics that are practical for the MCC, Sports Medicine, and Adolescent Medicine to be present together. We will audit 3 years of prior PPEs for most common follow up needs; we will plan pathways for access to these services.  Prior research has shown that evaluations for elevated blood pressure, dental health, and optometry evaluations are needed.  Anticipated Outcomes: We anticipate that, after this planning project is complete, we will have: 1) Engagement from the school community in planning improved student health care, 2) Determination of optimal timing and cadence of PPEs for each school community, 3) A process for communicating service availability to each school community, 4) A scheduling process that meets family and student need, facilitated by school Athletic Trainers,  5) Identified pathways for access to primary care and ancillary services needed (potentially onsite), and 6) a plan for needed PPEs at 5 schools. 

Project Goal

Our goal is to design a sustainable PPE process, using an on-site mobile care center (MCC) through Cincinnati Children’s, to perform PPEs for students in schools who do not typically access a medical home for this need. 

Project Objective 1

By May 2025, develop community-specific logistics that optimize PPE access for students needing them, with particular attention paid to those students without a medical home or insurance.  

Project Objective 2

By May 2025, have a process for identifying and contacting students who are at risk of the time on a PPE lapsing, resulting in inability to participate in sports.

Project Objective 3

By May 2025, have a process for regular engagement of needed primary care and specialty services to ensure thorough evaluation of participants engaging in physical activities.

AAP District

District V

Institutional Name

N/A

Contact 1

Kelsey Logan, MD, MPH