(Complex) Health Care Needs at School: Spotlight on Excluding Structures and Practices across German-Speaking Countries

Access to quality health care and inclusive education is guaranteed by two UN-conventions (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006; United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989). With the ratification of these conventions there is statutory commitment to establish inclusive education systems across German-speaking countries that can cater towards the rights and needs of students with Complex Health Care Needs (CHCN), too. Whilst there is a lack of data on access to quality care and inclusive education for students with CHCN (Adenstedt, Baesch & Prummer, 2021), existing research reports across the globe suggest extremely marginalising practices (Allard et al., 2015; Ballard & Dymond, 2016, 2018; Lehr, 2020). Local research findings covering partial or neighbouring domains (see Schlüter, 2013; Schwager, 2003; Klauß, Lamers & Janz, 2006; Bernasconi & Böing, 2016; Flieger & Müller, 2016) likewise suggest unmet rights and needs of this population on an astounding scale. The complexity at the intersection of healthcare and education is currently mostly outsourced to the so-called Special Needs Sector in this socio-geographic area, wich is still characterised by strong educational segregation based on perceived Disability (Pfahl & Powell, 2011; Buchner & Proyer, 2020). How schools meet Health Care Needs is, however, very relevant beyond the comparativly small population of students with CHCN: they are inherent to the human existence, with students requiring support to meet these throughout the schoolday (Allard et al., 2015; Klauß, 2007). There is, accordingly, a strong need for research at the intersection of health care, education and social justice, identifying relevant stakeholders, policies and local practices, mindsets and (professional) beliefs involved in meeting the rights and needs of students with (Complex) Health Care Needs. Understanding and deconstructing existing exclusionary practices and structures is essential to ensuring students rights and needs are met.