The use of digital technology to improve and monitor handwashing among children 12 years or younger in educational settings: a scoping review

Playful activity with robot for hand hygiene of elementary school students: quasi-experimental study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effectiveness of the hand hygiene process after elementary school students participated in an educational activity using an automated digital technology called Tutor Robot.

METHOD

Quasi-experimental study developed in 2019 with elementary school students (n=203). Hand hygiene was performed with a fluorescent solution before and after participating in an educational activity with a tutor robot. The images were recorded in a dark chamber and the data related to area of residence, grade, gender, hand position and laterality were analyzed by Anova and Holm-Sidak Post-Hoc (p≤0,05).

RESULTS

All conditions studied improved the hand hygiene process after activity with the tutor robot. There was no association between grade, gender, and dominant hand and the performance in the hand hygiene process, however, students from urban areas performed better than those from rural areas.

CONCLUSION

The activity with the tutor robot represented an important resource for conducting health education actions on hand hygiene and can also be tested in other settings and populations.

Effects of Micro Architectural Environmental Interventions on Handwashing Compliance of Adolescents: A School-Based Intervention Trial

PURPOSE

Aimed to explore more practical interventions for handwashing compliance (HWC) and protect the minor' health with the pandemic background, this study tested whether micro architectural interventions would promote HWC of adolescents through active experience.

BACKGROUND

Despite the well-documented benefits of handwashing (HW), low compliance is common among adolescents. HW space in schools has always been treated as attached spaces of little matter, which is unfavorable to public health. According to environment behavior perspective, personal motivation of HWC may be motivated by active environment.

METHOD

A school-based investigation and a 30-week environmental behavior experiment were conducted when students returned to school after the COVID-19 pandemic closure in 2020 in China to evaluate the effects of active environment interventions selected by previous survey on promoting adolescents' HW rate. Digital infrared counters were used to unobtrusively document their behavior.

RESULTS

Results in summer revealed a positive effect on all intervention groups. The effects of combined interventions were higher than the effect of any single intervention. However, HW rates of all groups declined sharply in the coldest month and the between-group differences decreased. Significant correlations were found between HW rates and satisfaction with the intervention schemes.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that architectural environmental intervention may potentially be a positive, friendly, and one-time investment mean to expand the HWC intervention scope from passive policies to positive experience, and HW space design for adolescents should be treated as a public health strategy.