A content analysis of hand hygiene materials targeting elementary-age children

Health Educ Res. 2018 Dec 1;33(6):481-491. doi: 10.1093/her/cyy033.

Abstract

Millions of dollars have been spent on the design and dissemination of educational materials to improve handwashing to prevent infectious diseases. School-age children have been the focus of many of these efforts; yet little is known about the content of these materials. This study uses content analysis to examine the theoretical and motivational trends as well as the communication approach used in a sample of hand hygiene intervention materials targeting elementary-age children. Two trained coders analyzed 144 communication materials. Study results indicate that educational materials infrequently exhibit information consistent with theories of communication for behavior change, commonly use fear-based messaging, and rarely recommend using technology in the design of the interventions. Implications for future research and the design of more strategic, child-focused hand hygiene interventions are discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Communication
  • Fear
  • Female
  • Hand Disinfection / methods
  • Hand Hygiene / methods*
  • Health Education / methods*
  • Health Education / statistics & numerical data*
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Motivation
  • United States