Helping your child get a good start at college involves more than finding the right-sized sheets or cheapest textbooks. College students must take full charge of their physical and mental health, often far away from you. Parents can do a lot to make that transition a healthy and happy one, from explaining and organizing medical needs to engaging in honest conversations.
Often, parents and even doctors don’t talk to high school seniors about how to prepare to care for themselves, and there’s a lot of information students need to know, says Dr. Karen Soren, director of adolescent health care at the NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. They should be told, “These are your medical issues, these are your prescriptions, these are your allergies … this is your insurance card, it will cover this or not this,” she says.
[See: 10 Concerns Parents Have About Their Kids’ Health.]
Pre-College Checklist
An app called THRIVE (which stands for Teen Health Resources, Information and Vaccine Education) helps parents manage their teen’s health. The app, developed by Soren and colleagues affiliated with the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, features authoritative information on many topics, tips on starting conversations and a means to track a child’s health — you can even check the weather in a distant college town. It offers a pre-college checklist in these categories:
Pre-college health exam: Soren sometimes gets frantic calls in August from parents of incoming college freshmen who misplaced mandatory health paperwork. “It’s really important for parents to be aware that different colleges require different kinds of physicals, histories and vaccinations,” she says. So make sure your child schedules that doctor’s appointment. The resulting paperwork helps university health services know if kids have medical or mental health problems.
Health insurance: Most adults find it hard to fathom their health insurance plan, so the idea of explaining it to a child is a challenge. Soren advises you to go online with your child to see what his or her school requires. Thanks to Obamacare, many will find their children can use family policies until age 26. Make sure you have coverage out of state. If your child is covered by your plan, help him or her check to see if a waiver needs to be filed to forgo the college’s supplemental health plan (which costs extra money). And get your child an ID card. If he or she doesn’t carry a wallet, use your child’s smartphone to take a photo of the front and back of the insurance card.
[See: 13 Tips for Getting Kids Health-Ready for Back to School.]
Immunizations: Check to see if your child is up to date on his or her vaccines. A schedule of vaccines is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention here.
The CDC recommends these vaccines for young adults ages 19 to 24:
— Meningococcal conjugate: protects against bacterial meningitis, an uncommon but serious disease for which freshmen living in dorms are at increased risk. Note: Some colleges also require or recommend the meningitis b vaccine, Soren says.
— Tdap: protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, and those who didn’t get the shot as a preteen or teen should be vaccinated.
— HPV: protects against human papillomavirus and related cancers; its three-dose series should be completed by women under age 27 and men under 22.
— Seasonal flu: offers protection in dorm living.
TB skin test: Your child will probably have to fill out a questionnaire that identifies possible exposure to tuberculosis and may need a skin test.
Medical records and prescriptions: Parents should ask their college students to take a smartphone picture of their prescription medications, Soren says. Students should also know what the prescriptions are for and how to get refills. If someone is on birth control, for example, how’s that refill going to happen? Find the phone number of the pharmacy in the college town in case a physician needs to call in, Soren suggests.
Student health center: Help your child be ready for an emergency by knowing what services are available and where they are on campus. Different schools offer different assistance. And make sure health planning also includes mental health, says Nicholas J. Westers, a clinical psychologist at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas and assistant professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center. It’s important to understand what mental health resources are available before your child needs them. “The energy required to do this now will save what little energy your child might have later,” he says.
Outside health-care resources: Locate the nearest emergency room and urgent care facilities. Parents whose children have chronic illnesses need to identify local resources and specialists.
First-aid supplies: The THRIVE app recommends filling a container with “bandages, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, cold medications, a digital thermometer and a chemical cold pack.” If your family swears by ginger ale and chicken soup, pack those as well.
An additional issue for college students’ parents is the question of who will be contacted in an emergency. Once a child reaches 18, his or her privacy regarding physical and mental health is protected by law, just like any other adult. Ask your child to sign a health care proxy, a document that identifies you as an individual who could speak for him or her in an emergency if they cannot speak for themselves.
[See: 10 of the Biggest Health Threats Facing Your Kids This School Year.]
“A Safe Harbor”
Besides organizing, parents need to talk to their child. You have more influence than you know on the student who stands a head taller than you. “Generally at this age I find that kids sort of look at you and say, ‘I know more than you,'” Soren says. “But in reality, kids are still very, very receptive to what their parents think. And they want to please their parents. They don’t want to hurt their parents.”
Now is the time to have adult conversations on tough subjects they’ll encounter at college, like sex, drugs, alcohol, peer pressure and the meaning of “no means no.” “It’s really important,” Soren says, “for a parent to make clear to their young adults what their expectations are. My expectation is you do not get crazy drunk. You don’t do anything stupid. My expectation is that you do well in school. And if you have a problem, I want you to call me. I’ll be there for you.”
Westers says these talks need not be heavy sit-downs — they could be started packing dishes or walking the dog. The most important thing a parent can communicate to their kids is that you’re there to help them, that their safety is your number one priority and that you’re always available to talk, Westers says. As children grow older, they travel uncharted waters, but they can always come back. “If the storm gets rough,” he says, “it’s nice to know they still have a safe harbor they can go to.”
More from U.S. News
10 of the Biggest Health Threats Facing Your Kids This School Year
What’s the Healthiest Month to Be Born In?
Can These New Devices Really Help You Sleep, Drug-Free?
How to Look After Your College Student’s Health originally appeared on usnews.com
