Content Area: Health and Physical Education

 

Index: 2.1A Grade 12 CPI 1

 

Standard: 2.1 - Wellness

 

Strand: A - Personal Health

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 1 -  The student will compare and contrast healthcare and personal hygiene products and services commonly used by adolescents and young adults.

 

Grade: 12

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        JUST ONE LOOK - Ask students to bring to class a pair of sunglasses and a mirror. Students get just one look to determine how fashionable their sunglasses really are. Students vote which sunglasses they like best. Ask students to share the criteria they used to make the decision. Then pose this question: “What criteria should you use to purchase a pair of sunglasses?” Explain the standards for sunglasses, and discuss potential health hazards that can occur when the eyes are not protected.

Variation: Discuss the need to wear safety glasses or goggles in labs and shop. Show various forms of protective eye equipment used in vocational settings. Demonstrate first aid techniques used for eye injuries.

Variation: Compare the need for sunglasses to the need for skin protection. Discuss the use of tanning equipment, tanning products, and sunblock or sunscreen. Students create posters or develop pamphlets to be displayed and distributed prior to summer break.

 

·        CHOOSING HEALTHCARE - Students select a specialty healthcare provider (e.g., music therapist, dental hygienist, medical technician, pediatric nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, psychiatrist); research career preparation, licensing requirements, and job specifications; and develop a list of 10 criteria to consider when choosing that type of healthcare provider. Students develop a community resource guide using the information.

 

      Variation: Students research various kinds of healthcare facilities (e.g., nonprofit hospital, voluntary agencies, community clinic, college health centers) and develop a criteria list and/or a resource guide as noted above.

Variation: Provide students with a description of health services delivered by a community agency or health professional. Students match the description with the correct agency name or professional title.

Variation: Research types of life, health, and disability insurance. Develop a guide for students describing each type and the benefits and problems associated with each.

 

·        WHO PAYS FOR HEALTHCARE? - Invite a personnel or benefits director from a large company to discuss the health benefits package available to employees. (You may prefer to have a panel of speakers representing various employers in the community.) Be sure the speakers address terminology such as pre-existing condition, deductible, copayment and lifetime limit. After the presentation, divide the class into groups. Give each group a folder that describes an insurance package. Students review the package and list the positive and negative aspects of the program. The guest speakers circulate and assist in the review. Each group presents their package and the class votes on which benefits package they think is the best. Students justify their choices.

Variation: Provide students with case histories of individuals with illnesses or injuries that require hospitalization or long-term healthcare. Students interview hospital representatives, healthcare providers, pharmacists, and insurance company representatives to determine the costs and parameters
of care. A speaker from the local hospital may be used to explain hospital charges and recent changes in length-of-stay necessitated by insurance reform.

 

      SAMPLE CASE STUDY - Maria has a 6 year old brother with severe asthma. Her family does not have insurance and they do not qualify for Medicaid. When Jose has a bad asthma attack, Maria has to rush him to the local emergency room. Usually they give him some new medicine and send him home. He has not been to his asthma doctor in over a year and he has four new medicines to take. Maria is concerned that he is on too many medicines.

 

·        WHERE TO GO - Explain that it is important to know where to go to get appropriate healthcare, especially when students will be moving out, going to college, or joining the armed forces. Divide the class into small groups and give each group a scenario. Students analyze the problems noted in the scenario, conduct appropriate research, and make recommendations for care. Students discuss their conclusions and suggestions with the rest of the class. Scenarios might include the following:
·        S. W. missed her last period and has been nauseous the last 2 weeks.
·        J. W. has constant pain in his knee and sometimes it is swollen. He has been taking an over-the- counter medication for over 2 weeks.
·        T. W. has pain on urination and continues to have unprotected sex with several partners.
·        P. W. has had shortness of breath and feels her heart pounding whenever she takes a test.
·        Q. W. has had frequent nosebleeds, tires easily, and has bruises on his arms and legs.

 

·        SCAVENGER HUNT - Provide students with a series of questions or a problem to solve related to obtaining healthcare. To solve the problem, students solicit assistance from local health agencies or providers and report the results to the class. Sample questions might include the following:
·        Where can you go for anonymous HIV testing? If you find out your test is positive, where do you go? If it’s negative?
·        Where do you go to obtain prenatal nutrition counseling?
·        You need transportation to the local health clinic for some tests. Who can you call?
·        You have no insurance and you need a pregnancy and STD test.
·        Your mother is very ill and you need some help around the house so you can attend school.
·        Your friend wants to have an abortion. Where can you help her find out more about the procedure?
·        Your family is in chaos. Your father left town and your mom is very depressed. Your brother starting drinking again. Where can you go for help?

 

·        BE A HEALTH SERVICES DETECTIVE -  Ask students where they might go to obtain information about a sexual health problem. List the answers on the board (e.g., call directory assistance for a local hot line or help line, call the help line number, look in the phone book for an agency or individual). After students have identified several agencies that provide reproductive and sexual health services, ask the following questions:

      ·        What qualities would you want in a person or agency that provides sexual and reproductive health services?
·        What would prompt you to choose one service over another?
·        What do the services cost?
·        How would you go about finding out more information?

 

      Assign each student an agency or resource to contact for more information. Student research should focus on costs and insurance; parental permission or notification; types and kinds of services; hours; location; transportation availability; and HIV, STD, and pregnancy testing. Students compile the
information to create a resource directory for teens.

 

      Variation: Students investigate health services and information provided by various state and federal agencies (e.g., state health department, CDC, medical schools, universities).

Variation: Students develop a list of advocacy groups and nonprofit organizations that support research, information, and treatment for individuals (e.g., American Cancer Society, March of Dimes). To learn more about the nonprofit agency or organization, students participate in a community ser-vice
project for their selected agency.

Variation: Students research laws regarding health and reproductive care for minors and develop a pamphlet, poster, Web page, or fact sheet. Students should focus on the similarities and differences of these laws in neighboring states.

Variation: Invite a panel of healthcare providers to discuss reproductive and sexual health issues. Be sure to include physicians (OB-GYN and urologist), a nurse practitioner or midwife, a family counselor, a sexuality counselor, and a health educator.

Variation: Invite a human resources specialist from a large company to discuss its reproductive health benefits and policies.

Variation: Invite representatives from various health insurance companies to discuss reproductive and sexual health benefits and limitations. The speaker should address confidentiality, referrals for specialized services, and the costs of specialized programs dealing with infertility as well as the availability of coverage for oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy, and drugs for impotence.

 

·        MAKING AN APPOINTMENT - Ask a volunteer to demonstrate how to make an appointment for some kind of service (e.g., a dentist appointment). Discuss the volunteer’s presentation and allow other students to perform their own version. Ask: “What advice do you have for someone who’s never made an appointment before?” Use the “Tuning In” cards from an earlier activity to model situations that require setting an appointment. (The teacher plays the part of the person receiving the call.) Place chairs back to back so the players can hear but not see each other. After each role-play, ask the class to evaluate the phone conversation. Ask students: “What qualities do you expect in a person working in such an agency? Why did the person on the phone respond the way he/she did? Did the person meet the caller’s needs? Would you recommend the agency to your friends? How did you feel during and after the phone call?”

Variation: Many areas have teen hot lines. Invite a supervisor and several students who work the hotlines to address the class about their training and experiences.

Variation: Take a field trip to a health services provider (e.g., a reproductive clinic, a mother-baby clinic, a college health center, a family health center). Before the visit, students develop a short list of questions for the facility’s staff. (Be advised: Interviewing clients may not be allowed.) Students write a reaction to the visit in their journal.