People---kids and adults!---do not wash their hands as often or as well as they think they do, risking poor health and the spread of infection. That was the finding of a 1998 survey of people's handwashing habits conducted in public restrooms across the United States by the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) and Bayer Corporation's Pharmaceutical Division.
In response to a survey that found that almost one third of people do
not wash their hands after using the bathroom, Bayer and the American
Society of Microbiology (ASM) launched Operation Clean Hands, a campaign
to educate Americans about health risks associated with poor handwashing
habits.
In Baltimore, Maryland, Jacquetta Conwell, a concerned working mother,
spearheaded an effort to include handwashing education in Baltimore's
schools. In some Baltimore schools, soap and paper towels had been in
scarce supply before Conwell came along!
In Lubbock, Texas, Annette Moore, a registered nurse at Methodist Hospital,
coordinated Operation Clean Hands Day. Handwashing education took place
throughout the community---from nursery schools to the university! Thanks
to Moore's efforts, handwashing education also found its way onto billboards
and radio and cable TV programs in Lubbock.
"Handwashing is the single most important thing people can do to prevent
the spread of germs," Moore says.
One of Moore's favorite activities is one she's done with children in
Lubbock's schools and at community health fairs and workshops. "I take
a product called Glo-Germ
and apply a bit to the children's hands. The kids rub the Glo-Germ into
their hands as they would a lotion, rubbing it into their knuckles and
fingernails and all the little nooks and crannies."
Then Moore sends the kids off to the bathroom to wash their hands. "Do
a good job," she says.
When the kids return from their handwashing adventure, Moore asks them
to stick their hands under the light of an ultraviolet lamp.
"Under the light, the kids are amazed to still see signs of Glo-Germ's
simulated germs," says Moore. "And they thought they'd done such a great
job of handwashing!"
Moore has used Glo-Germ in other ways too. She sprays some on pencils
or doorknobs and lets kids see how easy germs left behind on those surfaces
can be spread to hands that come in contact with them!
Young students who take part in Moore's clean hands lessons get coloring
pages in return, and a certificate.
Moore shared the results of another interesting handwashing study, not
the one done by Bayer and the AMS. In this school-based study, she recalls,
students were required in school to wash their hands thoroughly four times
each day. They washed their hands upon arrival at school; before lunch;
after using the restroom; and before leaving school for home. The result
was predictable: Absenteeism in the school decreased sharply during the
study period.
"Microorganisms are changing and becoming resistant to antibiotics,"
Moore says. "And handwashing is the first frontier in protecting against
those germs."
Moore gets on her "soapbox" once more when the conversation turns to
talk of handwashing tips: "Please, please, please, don't assume that
kids know how to wash their hands," she implores. "You'd never assume
they know how to brush their teeth, would you?"
Operation Clean Hands also offered a free brochure on how, when, and
why to wash your hands. A few tips from the brochure are listed here:
When Should You Wash Your Hands?
Wash your hands before you
- prepare or eat food.
- treat a cut or a wound, or tend to someone who is sick.
Wash your hands after you
- handle uncooked foods, particularly raw meat, poultry, or fish.
- change a diaper.
- blow your nose, cough, or sneeze.
- play with or touch a pet, particularly reptiles and exotic animals.
- handle garbage.
- tend to someone who is sick or injured.
- use the restroom.
How Should You Wash Your Hands?
- Use soap and warm, running water.
- Wash all surfaces thoroughly, including wrists, palms, back of hands,
fingers, and under the fingernails.
- Rub hands together for at least 10 to 15 seconds.
The survey conducted by the AMS and Bayer Pharmaceutical Division focused
on handwashing habits in public restrooms in well-known locales in large
cities. The study sites included Penn Station in New York City, Golden
Gate Park in San Francisco, and at an Atlanta Braves baseball game. Researchers
observed the behavior of 6,333 people; they interviewed more than 1,000
of those people about their handwashing behavior. Among the findings:
- More than nine in ten adults (94 percent) say they wash their hands
after using public restrooms, however, only six in ten (68 percent)
were observed doing so.
- The dirtiest hands are in New York. Only 60 percent of the 2,129 people observed
washed their hands after using a restroom in Penn Station.
- Across all cities, women washed their hands more often than men did
(74 percent, compared to 61 percent).
"Handwashing may seem trivial, but failing to do it can have tragic,
even deadly consequences," said Dr. Gail Cassell, ASM public and scientific
affairs board chair and professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology
at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "By not washing our hands
regularly, we may be causing our own poor health and spreading germs to
others. In fact, the spread of many germs that cause infections---ranging
from the common cold to diarrhea---can be reduced by handwashing with
soap and water."
Or, as Annette Moore says---OK, we'll give her the last word---"Prevention
is the best intervention!"
Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World® Editor-in-Chief
Copyright © 1997 Education World
Originally published 08/01/1997
Links last updated 01/07/2005
|
