Week 3 Blog: Interacting With Professionals/Colleagues in Your Setting

The name of Program/Setting I was interviewing at was an ECE facility. I spoke with the family Social Worker of the ECE facility. I learned about vaccine schedules and the importance of immunizations. I learned that without a vaccine, a person must actually be infected with a disease in order to become immune to the germ that causes that disease. I also learned that there are certain ages of which a vaccine works the best. For instance, if a child is given a measles shot before the age of one, the vaccine may not be as effective. I learned why it is so important that children have updated immunization records also. In this day and time, many diseases such as the measles and polio are at their lowest levels in history. If children don’t have updated immunization records, schools wouldn’t be aware of children who haven’t been vaccinated and those children pose a risk to exposing other children to diseases, which the un-vaccinated children are more likely to catching.

Two insights that I will share in my blog this week are health requirements and information that must appear on physical forms. The social worker of the ECE setting that I chose to complete my fieldwork hours gave me insight into the health requirements for a child to be found eligible for enrollment. Each child must have an up to date immunization record. Each child should also have a physical, which is as recent as six months. The physical form must indicate the child’s height, weight, blood pressure, hemoglobin/hemostat and a TB test.

Interviews: Health

The insights I gained from my interviews were very helpful and clear. I interviewed two ECE Teachers. We discussed many health issues and what should be done to enforce fitness in classrooms. We talked about nutritional foods and the importance of them in a child’s diet. We also talked about the importance of exercise being a part of the daily routine in classrooms. I think our most insightful conversation was when we discussed the importance of parents being aware of health issues in young children.

            My interviews influenced the decision of which area of interest I’ve chosen to write my research paper because my first intent was to write about poverty. I chose health instead because whilst my interviewees were talking, I found some of the health issues that were bought up important. Many people discuss how poverty affects young children, but the importance of health in young children is rarely discussed. I want to write about health because it is essential for young children and I don’t want the issue to be continually disregarded. Many of my colleagues prefer to discuss the stress poverty has on young children.

1.      Why are nutritional foods so important in a child’s diet?

2.      Should exercising become a routine performed in the classroom?

3.      How can making parents aware of health issues help enforce fitness in the classroom?