Expanding Access to Student Health Services through Strategic UX Research
UX Research
Designing and leading mixed-methods research to drive awareness, equity, and access in a public school health system.
Project at a Glance
Quick Facts
Client: Maine Township District 207 School-Based Health Center
Role: Lead UX Researcher
Timeline: June 2022 – June 2023
Scope: Service awareness, referral experience, student access
Outcome: Secured grant funding for a second SBHC
Teacher Quote
"I'm really thankful that they are here! It's such a valuable resource. The SBHC is my charity of choice because they are directly impacting my community"
Student Quote
"Once you get down there they take care of you"
Context & Constraints
The SBHC provides medical, mental health, and dental care across four public high schools. I was hired as an independent researcher to lead a district-wide discovery initiative.
Working under public school constraints (including FERPA, IRB-style consent protocols, and staff time limitations) required a careful balance between compliance and research depth. Every interview and survey needed to be safe and accessible for students, parents, and teachers, while surfacing meaningful and actionable data.
Research Goals & Approach
I started this research with the primary goal of exploring how and why students, parents, and staff do or don’t engage with SBHC services.
More specifically to:
Evaluate awareness, perception, and accessibility of existing services
Identify pain points in communication, referral, and scheduling
Generate ideas to improve engagement across diverse student populations
Collect feedback on future service opportunities
Contrary to our initial hypothesis we found that most people didn’t engage with the SBHC because they simply were not sure what was offered or how to access service.
Students and parents weren’t sure:
What services were offered
How to access the center
Whether they were eligible or could afford it
Teachers felt:
Unsure about referral steps
Confused about parental consent, paperwork, and privacy protocol
Initial Hypothesis
We anticipated people didn’t use the SBHC because it lacked relevant services or felt inconvenient.
What We Found
The biggest barrier wasn’t relevance or need, it was lack of clarity about SBHC services, eligibility, and access.
Many participants requested services that were already being offered, highlighting a widespread awareness issue, not a service gap.
Methods & Artifacts
24 Semi-Structured Interviews
10 students, 5 parents, and 9 teachers
Why Interviews?
To gain direct, nuanced understanding from people with varying levels of experience. A screener survey was used to identify participants level of awareness of and interaction with the SBHC.
This ensured the findings weren’t skewed toward only highly engaged or completely novice groups.
Research Artifact: Interview Discussion Guides
Each set of questions was tailored to its audience — students, parents, or teachers — to surface nuanced needs and barriers. By focusing on direct experience and perceptions, these questions revealed both where the SBHC shines and where critical communication gaps exist.
Student Questions
– What do you know about the SBHC?
– What’s one thing you think the SBHC does really well? What’s one thing it struggles with?
– How did you decide to use the SBHC?
Parent Questions
– What do you know about the SBHC?
– What’s one thing you think the SBHC does really well? What’s one thing it struggles with?
– What could make using SBHC services easier for you?
Teacher Questions
– What do you know about the SBHC? What resources are available?
– What barriers have you observed when referring students?
– What would help you or your students use the SBHC more?
Additional Detail: See complete discussion guides here
3 Surveys
Group-specific surveys across students, parents, and teachers
Why surveys?
To measure the prevalence of themes identified in interviews and confirm which issues were widespread versus isolated anecdotes. The surveys were shared with parents, students and teachers across the district.
Research Artifact: Surveys
Sample Student Questions
“If you needed medical care, would you know where to find it?”
“If you needed mental health care, would you know where to find it?”
“Have you used any services from the School-Based Health Center?”
Why These Matter:
These questions get to the core issue of student awareness and access. The data revealed that many students didn’t clearly understand where or how to seek care, especially for mental health. This insight shaped recommendations for clearer communication and wayfinding.
Sample Parent Questions
“Do you think your child is eligible to use the SBHC services?”
“If your child needed medical or mental health care, would you know where to find it?”
“Does the SBHC offer services that meet your child’s needs?”
Why These Matter:
These questions highlight parent awareness and trust. They surfaced confusion about eligibility and service offerings, making it evident that better communication tools were needed for families.
Sample Teacher Questions
“Do you think the SBHC offers the same services as the school nurse?”
“Have you felt unsure about referring a student to the SBHC?”
“Would having a flow chart or infographic about who is eligible for services be helpful?”
Why These Matter:
These questions reveal barriers for staff. General education teachers weren’t confident about privacy policies and referral rules, while special education staff felt more comfortable referring students due to closer parent connections. These insights shaped recommendations for staff training and quick-reference guides.
Additional Detail: See complete surveys here
Thematic Analysis & Affinity Mapping
All data was captured in Miro, where I grouped quotes, observations, and statistics into thematic clusters. This revealed recurring patterns and connections across roles and groups.
Key Findings
Overall Impact
Everyone (students, parents, and teachers) spoke highly of the SBHC staff.
The issue was never quality of care, but rather confusion about access.
Mental Health
Students and parents expressed a strong desire for accessible mental health support.
26% of parents and 35% of students weren’t sure where to access it.
“Even with insurance, it’s not easy to find mental health services. I feel like the district could do a better job of communicating that the SBHC offers access to mental health care.”
General Education vs. Special Education Perspectives
General Education teachers: Unsure about privacy rules and when to make referrals.
“We want to help, but the privacy laws make it feel tricky. A quick-reference tool would give me the confidence to connect students to care.”
Special Education teachers: Spoke highly of the SBHC as an accessible resource that minimizes disruption for students and families.
“For my students, knowing they can see a doctor right here is a huge benefit. It minimizes anxiety and keeps them comfortable.”
Sports Physicals as a Gateway
Sports physicals often served as students’ first interaction with the SBHC.
Opportunity for increased visibility and collaboration with the Athletics department.
“We mostly remember the SBHC at the start of the year — a postcard or even a quick announcement each season could help us remind athletes to take advantage.”
Parents
Strongly valued the convenience, affordability, and continuity of care.
“It’s a really nice perk to offer parents and families. I don’t think my kids ever needed to get care without me knowing, but I appreciate that they could. That way I know they could go to safe people for help.”
Students
Valued confidentiality, autonomy, and the supportive staff.
“If it’s mental health-related, kids worry their parents will find out. They need to know what’s confidential.”
“All the people there who I’ve interacted with are very kind. You walk in and feel like you can ask questions.”
Recommendations
Based on the findings, I proposed actionable recommendations that targeted the highest-impact, solvable pain points.
Develop a Multilingual SBHC Communications Toolkit
Visual, plain-language guides for students and parents.
Create Teacher Referral Tools
A one-page “how to refer” postcard or infographic.
Leverage Sports & Student Leaders
Partner with athletic departments and student wellness groups for promotion and programming.
Integrate SBHC into School Portals
Feature prominently on student platforms and announcements.
Pilot Small-Group Mental Health Programs
Drop-in groups, workshops, and peer support offerings.
Measure Impact Annually
Relaunch annual surveys to gauge awareness improvements and track evolving needs.
Impact & Reflection
This project reaffirmed the value of inclusive, mixed-methods research in complex, constrained environments. By thoughtfully crafting questions, sampling across diverse audiences, and synthesizing findings with tools like affinity mapping, I uncovered a pivotal truth: engagement barriers weren’t about services offered, they were about making those services discoverable and approachable.
The outcome? Actionable recommendations that shaped a district-wide understanding of engagement barriers and set the foundation for lasting, student-centric solutions.
The recommendations were embraced by SBHC leadership, shaping their communication and outreach strategies.
The insights directly supported a successful grant proposal, resulting in funding for a second SBHC site.
“This is a dream. Knowing that my kids can get care at school… it means everything.”
— Parent Participant