Institute for Research in Criminology, Community, Education and Social Justice, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom.
Institute for Psychological Science, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2020 Nov 23;15(11):e0242134. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242134. eCollection 2020.
Effective handwashing can prevent the spread of germs, including Covid-19. However, young children can lack a fundamental understanding of germ transfer. A Germ's Journey educational resources were designed to support young children in learning about germs and handwashing. These resources include a book, website, song, online games and glo-gel activities that are informed by a behaviour change model.
Prior research has not evaluated the impacts of these resources on behavioural outcomes.
Two intervention studies evaluated the impacts of these resources on both knowledge and behavioural outcomes.
In Study 1, children (n = 225) were recruited from four schools and randomly assigned by classrooms to participate in a multicomponent intervention (vs. control). In Study 2, children (n = 104) were recruited from a museum and randomly assigned to participate in a song intervention (vs. control). Trained observers recorded participants' engagement in six handwashing behaviours and their understanding of germs. These behavioural and knowledge outcomes were analysed using regression and related analyses.
In Study 1, significant improvements were observed between baseline and follow up in the intervention group for both behavioural scores (Est = 0.48, SE = 0.14, t = 3.30, p = 0.001) and knowledge scores (Est = 2.14, SE = 0.52, z = 4.11, p < 0.001), whereas these improvements were not observed in the control group (ts < 1). In Study 2, the intervention group had significantly higher behavioural scores compared to the control group (Est. = -0.71, SE = 0.34, t = -2.07, p = 0.04).
This research demonstrates that specifically designed hand hygiene educational resources can improve handwashing practice and understanding in young children, and could lead to the reduction of the transmission of disease within this group.
有效的手部清洁可以防止细菌传播，包括新冠病毒。然而，年幼的孩子可能缺乏对细菌传播的基本理解。《细菌的旅程》教育资源旨在帮助幼儿了解细菌和洗手。这些资源包括一本书、网站、歌曲、在线游戏和 glo-gel 活动，这些资源是根据行为改变模型设计的。
先前的研究尚未评估这些资源对行为结果的影响。
两项干预研究评估了这些资源对知识和行为结果的影响。
在研究 1 中，从四所学校招募了 225 名儿童，并按教室随机分配到多组分干预组（vs. 对照组）。在研究 2 中，从博物馆招募了 104 名儿童，并随机分配到歌曲干预组（vs. 对照组）。经过培训的观察员记录了参与者在六种洗手行为上的参与度和他们对细菌的理解。使用回归和相关分析来分析这些行为和知识结果。
在研究 1 中，干预组在行为得分（Est = 0.48，SE = 0.14，t = 3.30，p = 0.001）和知识得分（Est = 2.14，SE = 0.52，z = 4.11，p < 0.001）方面，均显著高于基线和随访，而对照组则没有观察到这些改善（ts < 1）。在研究 2 中，干预组的行为得分明显高于对照组（Est. = -0.71，SE = 0.34，t = -2.07，p = 0.04）。
这项研究表明，专门设计的手部卫生教育资源可以提高幼儿的洗手实践和理解，从而减少该人群中疾病的传播。
