Research Scholar, Department of Development Communication & Extension, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi, Sikandra Road, New Delhi 110001, India.
Department of Development Communication & Extension, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India.
Perspect Public Health. 2021 Nov;141(6):354-360. doi: 10.1177/17579139211003614. Epub 2021 May 15.
Handwashing has been widely accepted as the simplest protection against communicable diseases. However, despite proven effectiveness and cost-efficiency, adoption of regular handwashing is still poor in developing countries. As children in school-going age are vulnerable and continue to suffer from preventable illnesses, this study aims to spot barriers to handwashing among children while simultaneously recognizing the influencing factors to aid the solutions narrative for effective water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) strategies.
A school-based cross-sectional, mixed-method study was conducted in Ballabhgarh block, Faridabad district, India. A predesigned, pretested, structured questionnaire was administered to 106 class V students in five randomly selected rural government primary schools. Due permissions, consent and ethical clearances were taken.
The majority (>91%) of children were found to have low illness threat perception. The inability to visually see germs came out as one of the biggest barriers (46%) that were preventing children from practicing regular handwashing. Family, teachers and peers were found to be the most important sources of information for children and not any particular media channel. In fact, role of peers was found to be critical as 72% children said that they would wash hands if their friends were also washing hands.
This study suggests children's need for visible proof of germs and associated casual attitude toward illness threat as a hitherto unexplored potential barrier to practicing regular handwashing. In addition, the human channel of communication seems to be the most relevant regarding public health messaging in rural heartlands. Despite 100% penetration of mobile phones and commonplace presence of television, it is the community ecosystem that is still the most trusted sources of information and influence. The unique role of peers found in this study could have strategic implications for future behaviour change interventions making a case for peer-to-peer behaviour modeling.
洗手已被广泛认为是预防传染病最简单的方法。然而，尽管洗手在预防疾病方面已被证实有效且具有成本效益，但在发展中国家，人们仍然没有养成经常洗手的习惯。由于学龄儿童易受感染，并且仍然遭受可预防的疾病的困扰，因此本研究旨在发现儿童洗手的障碍，同时认识到影响因素，以帮助找到有效的水、环境卫生和个人卫生（WASH）策略的解决方案。
在印度法里达巴德区巴拉特加尔布区块进行了一项基于学校的横断面混合方法研究。在五所随机选择的农村政府小学中，向 106 名五年级学生发放了预先设计、预测试、结构化的问卷。在获得适当的许可、同意和伦理批准后开展研究。
大多数（>91%）儿童被发现对疾病威胁的感知较低。无法看到细菌是阻止儿童经常洗手的最大障碍之一（46%）。家庭、教师和同龄人被发现是儿童最重要的信息来源，而不是任何特定的媒体渠道。事实上，同伴的作用被发现是至关重要的，因为 72%的儿童表示，如果他们的朋友也洗手，他们也会洗手。
本研究表明，儿童需要看到细菌的可见证据，并且对疾病威胁的关联态度是他们养成经常洗手习惯的潜在障碍之一。此外，在农村腹地的公共卫生信息传递方面，人际传播渠道似乎是最相关的。尽管手机的普及率达到了 100%，电视也随处可见，但社区生态系统仍然是最值得信赖的信息和影响力来源。本研究发现同伴的独特作用可能对未来的行为改变干预措施具有战略意义，这为同伴间行为建模提供了依据。
