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301377
Sing Happy Birthday twice while washing your hands: A content analysis of hand hygiene curricula targeting elementary-age children
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Angela Fraser, PhD
,
Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
Maria Lapinski, PhD, MA
,
Department of Communications, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Brigitte Balogh, MA
,
Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Greg Viken, MA
,
Department of Communications, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Julie Plasencia, MS, RDN
,
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Zhangqi Wang, MA Student
,
Department of Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
The statistics for the spread of infectious diseases in schools are daunting: in a ten-year period, 286 outbreaks of food-borne diseases in schools were reported, resulting in more than 17,000 illnesses.1 In addition, 22 million school days and 38 million school days are lost to colds and the influenza virus, respectively.2 One way to prevent the spread of infections is through proper hand hygiene, the importance of which cannot be underestimated. Yet, few studies exist which look at current hand hygiene curricula used in education systems. This study uses a content analysis approach to look at theoretical and motivational trends currently being used in hand hygiene curricula. Two coders analyzed a variety of programs (n=146) targeting elementary school children (with average intercoder reliability of Kappa=0.77). The study results indicate that educational materials use fear appeals to teach children, which may not be effective for these young individuals.3 Almost half of the materials provide their own hand washing instructions, not following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Fewer still, only 30 of 146 materials mention the use of alcohol-based hand rubs despite their increasing popularity and availability. Further, these materials do not incorporate modern social media technology that this generation of children is accustomed to using for communication. In this presentation, we will elaborate on study results and discuss implications for the design of more effective, targeted hand hygiene curricula.
Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the current state of hand hygiene educational materials targeting elementary-age children.
Identify areas for improving hand hygiene curriculum to create stronger campaigns.
Analyze different emotion and targeting message appeals used to encourage proper hand hygiene.
Keyword(s): Food Safety, School-Based Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been co-investigator on federally funded grants focusing on children’s health attitudes and behaviors, including a USDA-funded study of hand hygiene in elementary schools. I am particularly interested in understanding and applying communication and social marketing strategies to communicating healthy behaviors to elementary school-aged children.
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.
