Evaluation of a hand washing program for 2nd-graders.
The purpose of this project was to determine if a multiple-week learner-centered hand washing program could improve hand hygiene behaviors of 2nd-graders in a northern Illinois public school system. Volunteers from the Rockford Hand Washing Coalition went into 19 different classrooms for 4 consecutive weeks and taught a learner-centered program. The program consisted of interactive class discussions and activities using GlitterBug training devices and agar plate materials. A one-factor repeated measure analysis of variance indicated a statistically significant 34% decrease in the absenteeism rate for students in the intervention group. Chi-square analyses on agar plate data indicated that students had cleaner hands after washing. Qualitative data from parents and teachers indicated that a majority of the students were engaging in hand-washing behavior. These results indicate that integrating a learner-centered interactive program in a multiple-week structure can lead to improvement in hand hygiene behavior.
Tousman
Stuart
S
Jefferson College of Health Sciences, Roanoke, VA, USA.
Arnold
Dani
D
Helland
Wealtha
W
Roth
Ruth
R
Heshelman
Nannatte
N
Castaneda
Oralia
O
Fischer
Emily
E
O'Neil
Kristen
K
Bileto
Stephanie
S
D000041:Absenteeism; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001296:Audiovisual Aids; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005178:Faculty; D006225:Hand / Q000382:microbiology; D006235:Hand Disinfection; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D015397:Program Evaluation; D002666:Psychology, Child; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012573:School Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration