ArticlePloS one2020
Improving young children's handwashing behaviour and understanding of germs: The impact of A Germ's Journey educational resources in schools and public spaces.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- A clinical trial evaluation of handwashing products and educational resources to improve hand hygiene in paediatric patients and school children.Frontiers in public health · 2024Trial
- Applying the Ottawa Charter to evaluate health literacy outcomes of the Little Aussie Bugs course for Australian early childhood educators.Health promotion international · 2026Article
- Train-the-trainer model in public health practice: Feasibility of senior nursing students as catalysts for hand hygiene education in school-aged children.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2026Article
- Effect of hand hygiene program among school children in Bangladesh.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of Hand Washing Education on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice among Orang Asli Kids in Gua Musang, Kelantan.The Malaysian journal of medical sciences : MJMS · 2025Article
- Bringing Healthcare-Level Hand Hygiene Skills to Children Through Iterative App Design.Proceedings of the ... European conference on games based learning. European Conference on Games Based Learning, author · 2025Article
- A Quasi-Experimental Pre-Post Assessment of Hand Hygiene Practices and Hand Dirtiness Following a School-Based Educational Campaign.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Replacing Text with Pictures for Multi-Lingual Health Education: Meeting the Needs of a Community with Low Literacy in Tanzania.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Intervention to Improve Children's Hygiene in Urban Squatter Settlement Schools in Pakistan: An Implementation Research.Environmental health insights · 2025Article
- The longitudinal effect of disseminating handwashing public health education to children in India via co-created, culturally relevant resources.Access microbiology · 2024Article
- Hand hygiene knowledge and demonstrated technique among Malawian kindergarten children: A quasi-experimental study.Nursing open · 2023Article
- Childcare and School Acute Gastroenteritis Outbreaks: 2009-2020.Pediatrics · 2022Article
- Parent-child interaction during a home STEM activity and children's handwashing behaviors.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Epidemic During the Lockdown on Children With the Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANDAS/PANS): The Importance of Environmental Factors on Clinical Conditions.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
- The Power of Music to Prevent and Control Emerging Infectious Diseases.Frontiers in medicine · 2021Article
- Evaluating approaches to designing effective Co-Created hand-hygiene interventions for children in India, Sierra Leone and the UK.PloS one · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextEffective 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. RESEARCH GAP: Prior research has not evaluated the impacts of these resources on behavioural outcomes. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Two intervention studies evaluated the impacts of these resources on both knowledge and behavioural outcomes.
methodIn 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.
resultsIn 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).
conclusionThis 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.
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