Nationwide Children’s, Columbus city and schools team up on reproductive education
COLUMBUS – Nationwide Children’s Hospital has been awarded a $2.5 million federal grant to support and expand its health care services in Columbus City Schools, aiming to limit adolescents’ reproductive-health challenges.
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said the grant, awarded by the Office of Population Affairs in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will reduce health-care disparities and improve services for residents across Franklin County.
“Reproductive-health education provides many benefits for our young people and the community at large, from preventing unintended and unplanned pregnancies to helping reduce the number of premature births, infant deaths and the racial disparities associated with them,” Ginther said in a virtual news conference.
Joining with the school district, the city, Ohio State University and CelebrateOne, a city-sponsored agency to reduce infant mortality, Nationwide Children’s will work to minimize teen birth rates in high-need communities, stop the growing racial disparity among teen birth rates, slow a countywide epidemic of sexually transmitted infections, and address other, related issues, CEO Tim Robinson said.
“Nationwide Children’s Hospital is committed to eliminating inequities in child health and shares a commitment with many community organizations to improve health for all children,” Robinson said.
The grant also will expand the hospital’s work with the school district, which includes the implementation of the Get Real program, an evidence-based curriculum on reproductive health and teen-pregnancy prevention. Their collaboration also includes 11 school-based health clinics and pilot programs of the teen reproductive-health education program.
“We recognize this as an equity-of-resources issue,” district Superintendent Talisa Dixon said. “This grant and our strong partnerships will allow Columbus City Schools to further close the health disparities in our community by improving and expanding services to more students throughout the district who might otherwise not receive it.”
During the three-year project, Dixon said, 7,000 seventh and eighth graders are expected to participate.
Medina Middle School teacher Linda Myers, who participated in one of the district’s pilot programs, said students showed initial resistance to the Get Real program. But after the third week of instruction, her students came to enjoy the course, which aims to be a little more thought-provoking than previous sex-education instruction.
The physical education class stirred interest and curiosity, Myers said. Students were able to open up to her and their classmates about their experiences.
Along with further fostering the Get Real program in middle schools, Nationwide Children’s will establish another school-based health clinic, bringing the total to 12, and it will encourage the district to form other student- and parent-focused programs.
“This grant will help us all take another step forward in our joint efforts to tackle the issue of infant mortality and to improve the health of Columbus’ youngest residents,” Robinson said.