LiceDoctors Lice Treatment Service Pushes for Schools to Initiate Lice Education Programs for Parents
In an era, where schools are dropping "no nit" policies and head lice are becoming resistant to lice pesticides and children are picking up lice from friends in school and at home, it is increasingly important that parents understand how lice are spread, how to identify both lice and nits, and what works and doesn't work to kill the lice and eliminate the eggs. Schools are in a unique position to send information home to parents to help them when their child is sent home with head lice.
Huntington, NY, March 05, 2014 --(PR.com)-- LiceDoctors Lice Treatment and Nit Removal Service, the largest lice removal company in the US, has launched an initiative to encourage schools to provide parents with access to an array of educational materials about head lice. According to LiceDoctors' owner, Karen Sokoloff, "Often schools are where children with lice are diagnosed. If parents were to receive a packet of information about head lice when there child is sent home, this could be hugely helpful. There are a lot of sources of information online of which parents should be aware. For many people, a diagnosis of head lice is very unsettling and overwhelming. Parents panic and run out to the drug store to buy chemical lice shampoos that are often ineffective. Every day we get calls for help from parents who have spent a lot of time and money spinning their wheels, trying in vain to eradicate the lice, and not knowing what to do and not do."
Sokoloff says that some schools have begun an educational initiative, but there are still many who send kids home with no information other than that they have lice and are not to return until there are no nits in the hair. Sokoloff asks, "What is a parent to do with that information?
"It can be very unnerving, as well as isolating to receive that phone call from the nurse, as some parents still associate lice with a stigma so they don't want to reach out for help. This often leads to a frustrated family as the lice refuse to respond to the treatment that the parents are using. We are out in the field so we know that parents waste a lot of time and money trying in vain to get rid of lice and nits because they have not been advised of effective treatment options and because they have not been trained on how to identify and find the lice in the hair."
A comprehensive lice educational protocol initiated by every school district would be extremely valuable for families and not difficult to do. "With many schools loosening their school lice policy criteria and allowing students into school with nits (after any treatment) education has never been more important," Sokoloff says. In an effort to reduce school absenteeism and stigmatizing from head lice, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), as well as the National Schools Nursing Association (NSNA), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), now all recommend that schools drop "no nit" policies.
LiceDoctors' lice education effort is multi-pronged. The company recently launched a "Lice Education Center" page on its website (www.licedoctors.com) with information on many lice-related topics. In addition, the company has been doing a series of webinars entitled "Secrets of Lice Identification and Removal " for school nurses and parents (check the web site for the next webinar). LiceDoctors is also available to address PTA meetings on the subject of head lice. In addition, LiceDoctors is reaching out to school nurses and principals to encourage them to provide information to parents and teachers from a variety of additional valuable web sites including the AAP, NSNA, CDC, and the National Pediculosis Association, an advocacy group based in Newton, Massachusetts.
In addition to referring parents to the above sites, Sokoloff says that all schools should send home a packet of information to parents that addresses the following lice topics: how lice are transmitted (over 90% are from head to head contact), how to identify lice (they scoot from the light and can be hard to see, and have 6 legs and no wings); how to identify nits (translucent shell covering a brown bug and stuck to hair shaft); how to eliminate lice from the head (you have to physically remove every nit and you must be able to identify even the smallest nit to get every one out); how to kill lice in the home (not necessary to do so as lice die when off the human head for 24 hours).
In addition to its webinar series, LiceDoctors has contacted thousands of school nurses and principals to advocate for a comprehensive education policy for parents. "The incidence of head lice is significant. Lice have developed a resistance to chemical pediculicides, so the old model no longer works. It is not enough for schools to tell parents that their children have lice and for them to go out and buy a lice shampoo. To put an end to a case of lice is more complicated than that, and as with most everything else, education is power. Schools are in a prime position to disseminate information to parents and LiceDoctors intends to keep lobbying to make this happen more."
LiceDoctors in-home professional service available in over 70 areas nationwide from Suffolk County, LI to San Diego, CA and from New Orleans, Louisiana to Milwaukee, WI. LiceDoctors can be reached at 800-224-2537 or online at www.licedoctors.com. The company has a physician medical director on staff whose copyrighted all-natural protocol has been used successfully for over 18 years. LiceDoctors has an "A" rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Sokoloff says that some schools have begun an educational initiative, but there are still many who send kids home with no information other than that they have lice and are not to return until there are no nits in the hair. Sokoloff asks, "What is a parent to do with that information?
"It can be very unnerving, as well as isolating to receive that phone call from the nurse, as some parents still associate lice with a stigma so they don't want to reach out for help. This often leads to a frustrated family as the lice refuse to respond to the treatment that the parents are using. We are out in the field so we know that parents waste a lot of time and money trying in vain to get rid of lice and nits because they have not been advised of effective treatment options and because they have not been trained on how to identify and find the lice in the hair."
A comprehensive lice educational protocol initiated by every school district would be extremely valuable for families and not difficult to do. "With many schools loosening their school lice policy criteria and allowing students into school with nits (after any treatment) education has never been more important," Sokoloff says. In an effort to reduce school absenteeism and stigmatizing from head lice, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), as well as the National Schools Nursing Association (NSNA), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), now all recommend that schools drop "no nit" policies.
LiceDoctors' lice education effort is multi-pronged. The company recently launched a "Lice Education Center" page on its website (www.licedoctors.com) with information on many lice-related topics. In addition, the company has been doing a series of webinars entitled "Secrets of Lice Identification and Removal " for school nurses and parents (check the web site for the next webinar). LiceDoctors is also available to address PTA meetings on the subject of head lice. In addition, LiceDoctors is reaching out to school nurses and principals to encourage them to provide information to parents and teachers from a variety of additional valuable web sites including the AAP, NSNA, CDC, and the National Pediculosis Association, an advocacy group based in Newton, Massachusetts.
In addition to referring parents to the above sites, Sokoloff says that all schools should send home a packet of information to parents that addresses the following lice topics: how lice are transmitted (over 90% are from head to head contact), how to identify lice (they scoot from the light and can be hard to see, and have 6 legs and no wings); how to identify nits (translucent shell covering a brown bug and stuck to hair shaft); how to eliminate lice from the head (you have to physically remove every nit and you must be able to identify even the smallest nit to get every one out); how to kill lice in the home (not necessary to do so as lice die when off the human head for 24 hours).
In addition to its webinar series, LiceDoctors has contacted thousands of school nurses and principals to advocate for a comprehensive education policy for parents. "The incidence of head lice is significant. Lice have developed a resistance to chemical pediculicides, so the old model no longer works. It is not enough for schools to tell parents that their children have lice and for them to go out and buy a lice shampoo. To put an end to a case of lice is more complicated than that, and as with most everything else, education is power. Schools are in a prime position to disseminate information to parents and LiceDoctors intends to keep lobbying to make this happen more."
LiceDoctors in-home professional service available in over 70 areas nationwide from Suffolk County, LI to San Diego, CA and from New Orleans, Louisiana to Milwaukee, WI. LiceDoctors can be reached at 800-224-2537 or online at www.licedoctors.com. The company has a physician medical director on staff whose copyrighted all-natural protocol has been used successfully for over 18 years. LiceDoctors has an "A" rating from the Better Business Bureau.
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LiceDoctors
Wendy Beck
800-224-2537
www.licedoctors.com
Wendy Beck
800-224-2537
www.licedoctors.com
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