COVID-19 Adopt a School Program
What it is:
The Henry the Hand Foundation Adopt-A-School Partnership is an initiative to match corporate or community sponsors with a school to provide a comprehensive and effective infection prevention and hand hygiene awareness program in a Tool Kit. The Program is based on the 4 Principles of Hand Awareness, which have been endorsed by the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians. It is designed in a lesson plan curriculum, is multimedia and multi-sensory, and is based on behavior modification and repetition. All the necessary educational tools are packaged and presented in a self-explanatory way so that anyone can implement the Program in their school.
Program Benefits
The Program is implemented by a school “Champion,” and the provided materials and curriculum create a “culture of safety” around hand hygiene behavior. The school’s students and staff subsequently benefit from enhanced hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, and cross contamination awareness (surface to T Zone inoculation prevention), which will decrease infection rates, reduce sick days, and promote family and community health . The sponsor benefits from the local positive publicity of their investment in the health of their community and subsequent increased awareness of their brand. Henry the Hand also features all sponsors on our E-News communications and social media handles
COVID-19 Infection Prevention School Partnership
Purpose:
• Reduce the risk of and absenteeism due to COVID-19 and other respiratory infections
• Promote harm reduction for students and staff, and to reassure parents that their school is participating in the COVID-19 Infection Prevention Partnership
• Provide Health Shields to students as a more effective infection prevention strategy than masks, and to retrain the unconscious behavior of self-inoculation, as all surfaces are potentially contaminated
• Train the school community to be more “Hand Aware” through the 4 Principles of Hand Awareness* in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory infections during the school year
• Teach/ Retrain the school community, “Do not touch the T Zone” (eyes, nose, and mouth), the portal of entry for COVID-19
What is it: Hand Awareness is defined as hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, and cross contamination awareness. The program is not limited to handwashing. It is about Hand Awareness, which is also described as knowing where your hands are and what they are doing at all times. This science based multi-media and multi-sensory behavior modification program will benefit the health of every student and staff in the school. It includes behavior change tools and presentations to teach students and staff how to practice better hand awareness and have better hand hygiene.
Read more about the COVID-19 School Partnership here
For surface contamination awareness in the classroom references click here
Infection Prevention Tool Kits
Infection Prevention Tool Kit for Schools
What is it: Dr. Will Sawyer created the School Program based on principles from the Johns Hopkins Partnership 2000 School strategies, which includes the family, school, and community working together to benefit the student. Designed with a lesson plan curriculum, including assistance with presentation, this School Program trains students, faculty, and staff members to prevent the spread of respiratory and gastro-intestinal infections.
Why we recommend it: This multi-media and multi-sensory program will benefit the health of every student and school employee. Implementing the innovative reinforcement techniques and tools of this Program into your school’s culture develops life long practice of the 4 Principles of Hand Awareness that have been endorsed by the AMA and AAFP.
Infection Prevention Tool Kit for The Classroom
The classroom kit is a smaller version of the School Program Kit. It is based on the same principles from the Johns Hopkins Partnership 2000 School strategies. It has a lesson plan curriculum and assistance with a classroom presentation, including instructions.
Why we recommend it: This multi-media and multi-sensory program will benefit the health of every student and school employee. Implementing the innovative reinforcement techniques and tools of this Program into your classroom culture develops life long practice of the 4 Principles of Hand Awareness that have been endorsed by the AMA and AAFP.
Henry’s Self Teaching Hand Hygiene Learning Center
What is it: Henry’s Hand Hygiene Learning Center is a comprehensive hand hygiene behavior change program that incorporates a portable self-contained sink! It is easily moved from the classroom to the cafeteria, playground or any other location as a point of use solution wherever there is the greatest need or infection outbreak.
The Hand Hygiene Learning Center is a complete behavioral change package. It includes:
- Soap dispenser
- Paper towel dispenser
- Visual cues and the steps of handwashing
- Infection Prevention Tool Kit for the Classroom
How to use it: Place this Hand Hygiene Learning center at a critical handwashing point of use in your school such as: your classroom entrances, school entrance, cafeteria lunch line, entrance from Recess.
Why we recommend it:
Henry’s Self Teaching Hand Hygiene Learning Center is conveniently portable and can be placed at critical “point of use” locations (classroom entrance, cafeteria line, etc.). It can help prevent spread of germs within a classroom & school because it encourages more frequent handwashing. It has visual, self-explanatory handwashing steps, regardless of reading capability. Henry’s Self Teaching Hand Hygiene Learning Center is the full package: The Learning Center can be accessed independently by kids, has all the necessary handwashing tools attached, includes an Infection Prevention Classroom Toolkit to reinforce the Program for changing behavior and can easily be moved to different critical locations in the school. The Infection Prevention Program incorporates several aspects of planned behavior theory and many aspects of the RANAS strategy.
Improve Family Health by providing educational packets
What is it: Educational packets include: a few reinforcement tools: stickers, tattoos, bookmarks and Home Handwashing Schedule to help teach family what the students are learning at school and how to stay healthy.
Why we recommend it: Giving each student a packet to share with their family teaches the same hand hygiene behaviors to their family so they learn the role hands play in spreading disease and keeping healthy. If the whole family follows the 4 Principles of Hand Awareness they will be healthier and can attend school and work.
What is it: It is an inflatable costume a person within your school, community or organization can dress up in to “spread the word not the germs” to jump start any handwashing or hand awareness program or presentation! The inflatable Henry the Hand costume will be a BIG hit at any event!
Why we recommend it: No one will forget Henry the Hand after he visits your school, hospital, business or community event. It is the BEST way to kick off your hand hygiene campaign or program to improve hand hygiene awareness and culture of safety. All you need is to find a willing volunteer who is coordinated to suit up who is between 5’3″ and 5’10” tall. And you need an assistant (Handler)to help them suit up and to negotiate the doorways and crowds.