Medical Van Brings an Added Dimension to an Education Effort

Editor’s Note: This feature is part of an ongoing series.

The effort to help children in Washington’s Parkside-Kenilworth neighborhood is more than just an attempt to improve conditions in the classroom.

The neighborhood, in addition to having traditionally scored low in key academic measures, also has a high rate of pediatric health problems, according to a 2009 RAND study. Because the neighborhood is geographically isolated, sandwiched between a river and a freeway, many families have a hard time finding access to basic services provided at hospitals and health clinics.

To help correct this problem, a key part of the Promise Neighborhood Initiative in Parkside-Kenilworth is a program that provides children there with access to mobile medical facilities.

This service is designed to help improve academic performance by limiting the amount of time students miss school because they are sick.

See the video for more on these medical vans, and read the full report on this program here.