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Can You Imagine Your School or Child Care Centre Free of Lice?
- It is Possible and Lousy Solutions Has the Plan
Head lice don't carry diseases, but they are still a significant problem in schools and child care settings
Thousands of kids get nits every year and while head lice don't cause disease they are a significant drain on money, time and emotional well being for both families and staff at schools and child care centres.
NSW health has previously sampled primary school aged children in NSW and found 23% had head lice on the day (NSW Health, nitbuster program). That is a lot of itchy heads, distracted children and days off school. Not to mention wasted time off work for parents having to collect their children or stay home to treat them. Or the time spent regularly screening the family, treating those infected, spent doing additional washing and house cleaning! And let's not forget the cost of the multiple treatments, defense sprays, nit combs and visits to the doctor or lice removal clinic.
There is also the emotional stress to consider. There is still a significant stigma associated with head lice infections. Parents worry that their family might be judged, and the children infected are frequently embarrassed, self-conscious and have even been the target for teasing and bullying.
School staff are also impacted, teachers are concerned for the children and worry they may pick up the infection. Admin staff have added workload from stressed parents and additional communications that need to be sent.
All in all it is a very unsatisfactory situation with no resolution in sight.
Why are lice so common in primary school and child care?
It's got a lot to do with young children's behaviour and that they are still developing their sense of body space. They like to huddle together and this creates the ideal opportunity for head lice to transfer. So once there is head lice in the class the peer group is quickly infected. Families are quick to act, but often do so in isolation and it is rare that comprehensive contact tracing is done. They may inform close family or friends but what about the broader peer group, the Saturday sports team, the child they sit next to in class, the play group at OOSH? Even when the school is informed, it can take a day or two before a "Lice Alert" note" is distributed to others in the class, and so screening and treatments are out of sync.
Let's imagine a scenario: Jo is discovered to have head lice on Friday and is treated on Saturday. Her parents tell the school on Monday. A head lice alert efficiently goes out to her class on Monday and following the notification, Sam, who is in the same class, is found to have lice and treatment is organised for Tuesday after school. However, Jo and Sam have been playing together all Monday and Tuesday and one Louse has managed to move on to Jo's newly treated head. A new colony is formed and left to multiply unnoticed for a couple of weeks, and a couple of lice pass from Jo back to Sam. And around and around and around it goes.
So even when parents are doing the right thing and the school is promptly notifying the class, the chances of getting head lice under control is neigh on impossible without a broader and more co-ordinated approach.
A new way to deal with head lice outbreaks at school and child care - Nit Patrol
Lousy Solutions' "Nit Patrol", builds on the objectives of NSW Health, "to reduce the prevalence of head lice by educating school and child care communities about head lice and how to screen and treat".
Nit Patrol goes further by providing in-a-box tools and expert consultation to support the planning and implementation of a coordinated lice control strategy, requiring minimal reliance on staff or parent volunteers.
If your school or child care centre is experiencing an ongoing battle with lice, know that there is so much more that can be done beyond sending the lice alert to the class.
Lousy Solutions specialises in investigating the communities head lice situation, defining achievable lice control objectives and developing strategies that step closer to eradication.
We can work with the school or centre administration, the P&C committee, or other parent bodies but our aim is to develop a program that does not require extra admin or parent resources.
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Call us for an obligation free discussion on the possibilities for your community.
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If you are not ready for a full-scale lice eradication program take a look at our selection of standalone tools that can be used individually to enhance your communities head lice resilience:
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Our Workshops and Presentations are designed to educate the community, dispel myths, and encourage healthy discussion and co-operation around head lice issues (Parents and Staff). Some examples of topics
Kindy orientation presentation provide parents that are new to the school with a heads up about head lice and some useful information about how to screen, what to look for, how to treat etc
Staff education – dispels the myths about head lice and addresses way staff can make a positive impact. Strategies for preventing reinfestation, health classroom conversations etc
Parent screening and treatment workshops – Why, when, how to screen. Choosing a treatment. Effective treatment protocol. Prevention strategies. Importance of parent communication and co-operation
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The Nit Patrol Communication Program sustains and normalises the conversation about lice, encouraging the community to talk freely about head lice thereby minimising the stigma and improving cooperation. It is a series of bite size communications designed for newsletters or social media, that educate and catalyze conversation.
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Nit Patrol Help Line. We can provide access to expert advice on anything to do with head lice, to parents and staff, through a subscribed help line
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Our Head Lice Barometer Survey can be used to understand the current lice situation so meaningful objectives can be set, or it may be used as an ongoing tool to monitor achievement over time. It investigates areas of strength and weakness in a communities lice defenses e.g., Is the lack of knowledge about louse biology inhibiting effective screening or treatment; Is stigma a factor affecting the rate or reinfestation? It can also help pinpoint hot spots within years or classes.
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All School/Year/Class Screening – The ultimate aim of the Nitpatrol Program is to achieve a co-ordinated approach to screening and treatment. We can plan and implement a co-ordinated in-school or at-home screening across the school, a year or a class.
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Our Nit Patrol tools are effective, simple to implement and designed not to add to the administration/class parent workload.
We do the work for you!
Nit Patrol Program
Workshops & Presentations for Parents & Staff
Educate and normalise the conversation around head lice
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15min -1hr Presentation
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​Customised content to suit your situation
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Biology, life cycle, treatment options, prevention etc​
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- ​Q&A
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Suitable for:
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parent education e.g., item in Kindy orientation program or class parent functions
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Staff training
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In-person or on-line
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Nit Patrol Program
Head Lice Barometer Survey
Many cases of head lice go unreported to administration; The Head Lice Barometer is designed to uncover what is really going on, so meaningful, community specific objectives can be set for your school or child care centre
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What is the Head Lice Barometer?
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On-line anonymous survey for parents, carers and staff.
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It quantifies the size of the problem.
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It quantifies the impact on parents and staff and gauges the community sentiment to the problem.
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It measure the current knowledge base on lice biology and behavior as well as treatment and prevention practices.
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Anonymity encourages participation and more accurate answers
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Findings are used to develop community specific education and management objectives.
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Results can be used as a benchmark to monitor progress over time
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Data can be bench-marked to de-identified, aggregated data from other participating communities.
Nit Patrol Program
Coordinated At-Home Screening
Break the re-infestation cycle with a coordinated attack
This tool has elements of the NSW Health Nit Buster Program in that a whole school or class "screen and treat" is implemented. It is made more practical by being done at home by parents rather than at school by volunteers. It includes:
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Co-ordination of a weekend screen and treat activity for the whole school, year groups or classes
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Step-by-step instructions for screening and head lice and nit removal
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Customised communications program to promote and coordinate the event
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Follow-up survey to collect results
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Event report summary suitable for publishing to community
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Minimal school resource required to implement.
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Nit Patrol Program
Head Lice Help-Line
Support for your community to get expert advice when they need it
This tool includes:
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Direct access to Lousy Solutions help-line or email for parents and staff
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Individual advice / support on:
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correct screening method,
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nit removal techniques,
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choosing a treatment,
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lice biology and behavior
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persistent infestations
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etc.
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Can be accessed as a once off during an outbreak or all year round
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