Promoting Health Equity By Addressing The Links Between Chronic Absenteeism And Children'S Environmental Health

Abstract

Introduction: The relationship between chronic absenteeism (missing 10% or more of k-12 school days in a year) and children's health is complex, with contributing factors ranging from asthma to community violence. Chronic absenteeism correlates closely with high school drop-out rates, which affect socioeconomic mobility and contribute to numerous health effects into adulthood. Despite the importance of regular school attendance in breaking cycles of health inequities, and the links between unhealthy school environments and absenteeism, few interventions explicitly address the children's environmental health components of chronic absenteeism. Methods: We link chronic absenteeism and children's environmental health in the United States by: 1) reviewing the literature on chronic absenteeism and health 2) identifying existing best practices and policy levers to address these linkages, particularly by targeting childhood asthma, and 3) proposing collaborative, multidisciplinary environmental health-based interventions and communication strategies that engage diverse federal and local stakeholders, from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education to federal, state, and local health departments and health care organizations. Results: Our review will demonstrate that asthma is a leading cause of chronic absenteeism, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged children. By uniting the education, environment, and health sectors, we hope to adapt a substantial body of evidence related to asthma and school environmental health to design effective interventions addressing chronic absenteeism. Conclusion: Our work will culminate in a model intervention and set of policy recommendations to address environmental health-related contributors to chronic absenteeism and its corresponding children's health inequities. This model can serve as a foundation on which school environmental health-based programs can be tailored to meet specific community needs.