Running head: HAND HYGIENE AMONG SCHOOL AGE KIDS 1

Hand Hygiene among School Aged Kids

Wellness Promotion Project

Nataliya Prilutsky

Oksana Sidorevich

SUNY Polytechnic Institute

HAND HYGIENE AMONG SCHOOL AGE KIDS2

Abstract

Hand washing is something that school age kids hear all the time. Teachers and parents

are constantly telling kids to wash their hands before they eat, after they use the restroom, etc.

But do kids really understand why they need to wash their hands? Why is proper hand hygiene

so important? A wellness promotion project was conducted at the Christian Heritage School in

Utica, NY where kids were taught why they need to wash their hands, when to wash their hands,

for how long to wash their hands and the basics of germs and how they are transmitted.

Objective

The purpose of this project was to plan and implement an activity that had a primary

prevention focus for an essentially well population group.

Method

A primary prevention topic on hand hygiene among school aged kids was chosen with the

goal to educate school age kids about the importance of proper hand hygiene. The

implementation plan was to make sure that all school age kids that were present at the seminar

knew why they need to wash their hands, how to properly wash their hands, and when to wash

their hands.

Introduction

Identification of a problem

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Hand washing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of germs that can

cause illnesses. According to Millions of Germs and Bacteria Await Kids at School, 2006, 164

million days of school are lost each year as a result of illness and up to half of those days could

be eliminated with proper hand washing. Kids are often not compliant when their parents or

teachers tell them to wash their hands and the reason for that might be lack of understanding of

the importance of hand washing. Kids need to understand why they need to wash their hands

before eating, after using the bathroom, after playing with a pet or as soon as they get in the

house from playing outside. Educating kids on proper hand hygiene can save lives.

Primary Prevention

According to Boyce, Peckham, Hann & Trenholm, 2010, primary prevention are

activities designed to reduce the instances of an illness in a population and thus to reduce the risk

of new cases appearing, and to reduce their duration. This project qualifies as a primary

prevention because the population that was chosen is an essentially well population. The

prevention strategy that was used among school age kids was the education on how to avoid

getting sick through proper hand hygiene.

Rationale for the project

It is very important to educate school age kids about the importance of proper hand

hygiene. Lee & Lee , 2014, stated that hand hygiene in young children is very poor when

compared to hand hygiene among teenagers and adults and the reason for that is because most

children fail to perceive the importance of hand washing to their health and wellness. According

to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2013, about 2.2 million children under the

age of 5 die each year from pneumonia and diarrheal diseases. Those two are the top killers of

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young children around the world. Effective hand washing could protect about 1 out of 3 children

who get sick with diarrhea and 1 out of 6 with respiratory infections like pneumonia. The

rationale for this project was to educate kids about the importance of hand hygiene in order to

decrease the number of sicknesses and school absentees in school age kids.

Community Diagnosis

Risk for infection and sickness related to ineffective hand washing among school age

kids.

Literature

Not all germs are harmful, however, their existence suggests the presence of viruses and

bacteria that can lead to common cold, flu, or even foodborne illnesses such as E.coli and

Salmonella (Millions of Germs and Bacteria Await Kids at School, 2006). Effective hand

hygiene is the most important method in preventing and controlling infection and illness.

Childhood Flu Vaccine Uptake Down, 2014, states that flu in children leads to hundreds of

thousands of doctor visits and ten thousands of hospital stays a year and kids under the age of 5

are most likely to be admitted to the hospital with a flu than any other age group. Young

children are also much more likely to spread the flu due to the greater contact with others; less

likeliness to cover their mouths when coughing and sneezing, and their lack of hand washing.

According to CDC, 2011, about 40% of children aged 5–17 years missed 3 or more school days

in the past year because of illness or injury, nearly 22 million school days are lost each year due

to colds alone, and 38 million school days are lost each year due to the influenza virus. All those

numbers could have been much lower if kids practices proper hand hygiene more often.

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Plan

The main teaching goal of this project was to teach school age kids to perform effective

hand hygiene and to teach them why it is so important to wash your hands. Supporting goals

were: kids will understand the basics of germs and how they get transmitted, when to wash their

hands, for how long to wash their hands and the surfaces on which germs are found most often

(ex: doorknobs, desks, computer keyboards).

Teaching Strategies/Implementation

School age kids were lectured on basic principles of germ biology and the importance of

why hand washing is so important. There was a colorful poster board in front of them with the

steps on hand washing techniques and the appropriate tools for hand washing. After the lecture,

there was an activity with the Glow Germ Solution that was applied to the hands of students

before hand washing. The hands were then placed under the UV lamp in a darkened room which

showed students how many germs are on their hands.  After the revelation of enormous amount

of germs on hands, students went to the bathroom to wash their hands. After hand washing, their

hands were placed under the UV light again which showed much less germs and showed where

germs were still stuck (mostly around nails and wrists). Kids were really surprised to find out

that they really need to scrub their hands when washing them in order to get rid of most germs

instead of just letting water lightly run through them. After the Glow Germ experiment, students

had interactive discussion about when to wash their hands. There were also quiz question and

for those who answered correctly, they received a free hand sanitizer.

Evaluation

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The project went very well even though it was a bit stressful with the large amount of

students that were present. The instructional and participant goals and objectives met as planned.

Most kids were receptive to the ideas during the implementation phase. Some kids did have a

problem with keeping quiet during the lecture and sitting still. They all loved the Glow Germ

activity and were all amazed with the amount of germs that were present on their hands. We

(Oksana and Nataliya), were very pleased with the results of our project. At the end of our

lecture, all kids were able to tell us correctly why it is important to wash your hands, when to

wash your hands, for how long to wash your hands (and the proper technique for hand washing),

and they all understood the basics of germs and how they are transmitted.

Conclusion

Effective hand hygiene is the most important method in preventing and controlling

infection and illness. Good hand hygiene helps to keep students healthy and in school.

According to Millions of Germs and Bacteria Await Kids at School, 2006, 164 million days of

school are lost each year as a result of illness and up to half of those days could be eliminated

with proper hand washing. Many school age kids do not understanding the importance of hand

washing. They know they need to wash their hands however, they are not sure why exactly.

Education is the key to success. If a child will understand why it is so important to wash hands,

that child will wash hands more often. About 2.2 million children under the age of 5 die each

year from pneumonia and diarrheal diseases that could have been prevented through simple hand

washing (CDC, 2013). Hand hygiene is inexpensive and time efficient intervention that can save

lives. Let’s spread the word to the younger generation!

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References

Boyce, T., Peckham, S., Hann, A., & Trenholm, S. (2010). A Pro-Active Approach. Health

Promotion and Ill-health Prevention. The King’s Fund  , Retrieved from

http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/files/kf/field/field_document/health-promotion-ill-

health-prevention-gp-inquiry-research-paper-mar11.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013).  Handwashing. Retrieved from:

http://www.cdc.gov/features/globalhandwashing/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Infectious Diseases at School. Retrieved

from: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/infectious/

Childhood flu vaccine uptake down on 2013. (2014). Practice Nurse, 44(12), 10. Retrieved from

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.sunyit.edu/

Millions of Germs and Bacteria Await Kids at School. (2006). Journal of Environmental

Health, 68(6), 78. Retrieved from eds.b.ebscohost.com

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