Awareness
Be aware of health issues in your community. Know local school district poli-
cies and
happenings regarding illnesses.
Cleanliness
If needed, provide extra personnel and/or supplies to clean and sanitize chil-
dren's rooms
even more stringently during critical seasons.
Policies
Make sure health policies are in place. Include specific ways to measure signs of illness (fever,
diahrrea, vomiting, rash, etc). Include room cleaning and sanitizing requirements. Provide copies of
these for parents and leaders.
Publicity
Provide brochures or flyers for visitors. Post policies on bulletin boards and in classrooms. Send
home reminder notices to parents at critical times.
Training
All leaders must know and comply with health policies. Include procedures in annual or seasonal
training sessions
and regular avenues of communication, such as weekly leader emails.
Education
Keep your leaders and parents informed about current health issues. Develop health information
forms for quick
response to issues such as exposure to lice. Provide email links to helpful websites such as the Cen-
ters for
Disease Control cdc.gov or the American Academy of Pediatrics www.aap.org/parents
or Kid-
sHealth
kidshealth.org/parent or links from these sites regarding specific seasonal diseases, or ones that
seem to be
"going around."
Practice Good PR
If a parent is concerned about a child being exposed to a disease at church, or if you must remove a
sympto-
matic child from a classroom, handle the conversation with care, compassion, confidentiality, and
professionalism.
Practice What You Preach
Model the good health practices you want others to follow, such as washing hands
frequently and covering coughs. Stay home if you are sick, and encourage your
leaders (as difficult as that is) to do the same.
Provide Sanitizer
If possible, encourage your church to provide hand sanitizer at multiple stations