In addition, the dwindling number nurses and health practitioners employed in Public and Parochial Schools will complicate any infection prevention effort. Without nurses available to teach infection prevention much less treat it, it becomes imperative for someone to proactively educate students about infection prevention. This is where the Infection Prevention School Partnership Program (IPSPP) comes in as a solution.
The IPSPP serves as the most unique multi-media and multi-sensory behavior modification program that teaches true primary infection prevention. It trains the school community to be more “Hand Aware” to prevent the spread of respiratory and gastro-intestinal diseases within the school, families, and community. The Program endeavors to decrease student and staff absences due to infectious diseases, while benefitting the family through the reinforcement tools students take home. Essentially, the Program aims to create a triangle to engage the school, the family, and the community in raising Hand Awareness and promote infection prevention. The Program integrates innovative strategies and educational techniques of the Johns Hopkins Partnership 2000 for Successful Schools to achieve effective behavior change. Applying these techniques and tools of this Partnership into a school’s culture and curriculum will help keep students, teachers and staff, and parents healthy and present and reduce school spending on substitute teachers.