| Description |
In April of 2009, a group of high school students from Summit County, Utah who were on vacation in Mexico during spring break contracted a new strain of the H1N1 virus that was quickly spreading throughout Mexico and the U.S. Immediately following the outbreak, situation updates were being sent from the CDC through local health departments and directed toward schools. Concerned health department officials worried that all of this information was not being immediately delivered to the parents of students in affected schools. The goal of this study was to conduct a total sample survey of all parents of students in two of the initially affected schools, Park City High School and Treasure Mountain Junior High. A 20-item questionnaire was created to determine the parents' preferred method of receiving school health information and assess parents' opinions on school closure, absenteeism, and disease prevention. Of the 1700 surveys distributed, 161 were returned. The data were entered into an SPSS database and analyzed for descriptive statistics (percentages, numbers). The results suggested that 87.7% of the parents preferred health information be sent to them rather than posted in a location that they must seek out. Email messages were preferred over website postings. Most parents (88.7%) were in favor of immediate school closure in the event of an outbreak of a highly contagious disease. Finally, while many parents felt that the school was doing a moderately good job of educating students on how to prevent spreading disease, there was some improvement needed in this area. Though the threat of the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak has largely been alleviated for now, new strains of seasonal flu are constantly a threat. This survey showed that parents have distinct opinions about the dissemination of health information and the need for it to be delivered directly to them in the event of a crisis. Repeating parent opinion surveys every few years to include incoming students is highly recommended to create clearer lines of communication and possibly decrease the spread of disease in the event of a contagious disease outbreak in the future. |
