214099 Hygiene Promotion through Local Games in Indonesia: A Friendly and Fun Tool for Children

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 : 9:42 AM - 10:00 AM

Syamsu Salewangan , Indonesia Country Office, Plan International, Jakarta, Indonesia
Wahdini Hakim, MD , Health Program, Plan Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
Afrianto Kurniawan , Water and Sanitation, Plan International, Jakarta, Indonesia
Luis Tam, MD DrPH , Plan USA, Arlington, VA
BACKGROUND. Dompu is a remote district in east Indonesia, populated by 209,000 people. One of the biggest problems for school children in Dompu is the diarrhea. More the 4000 diarrhea cases per year happened to children in school ages in 2007. Plan International, a child-centered humanitarian organization, Plan Indonesia has been working in Dompu since 1997. Beginning in March 2009, Plan international conducted a hygiene promotion program among 3,000 students in 18 primary schools. An edu-tainment strategy was chosen, through the application of life-size versions of the popular “snakes and ladders” board game, with a size of 25 square meters and with key hygiene behavior massages inserted into the games. 36 teachers were trained on the use of the games. RESULTS. After 8 months of implementation, 77% of children have played the games. The number of children who knew the causes of diarrhea problem increased from 40% to 74.29%. The percentage of student who washed their hands with soap before eating and after defecation reached 95,6%; and 87.5% of children defecated in latrines. The direct cost of the activity was USD 5,300. CONCLUSION. Simple local games are an effective hygiene education tool for school-children. Primary schools in three additional districts have adopted the games and introduced it to more children.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Diversity and culture
Environmental health sciences
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the importance of school-based entertainment-education to promote key hygienic practices that will decrease water-borne diseases.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I supervised the project on the topic in the abstract presented here.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.