Background
Methods
Selection of schools
Components of the pilot study
Results
Disease concepts of children
Topic | Theme | Typical quotes |
---|---|---|
Transmission of flu and colds | Germs | 'When you have a sneeze your germs will go to other people and other people will have sneezes as well' (Year 1) |
'If I touch my baby sister she will have the germs' (Year 1) | ||
'If they sneeze or cough and the germs get to you' (Year 6) | ||
Person to person | Someone in my family had it, then I got it too' (Year 2) | |
'It goes from one person to another' (Year 2) | ||
'If someone is coughing or sneezing around them then they will catch it' (Year 6) | ||
Proximity/contact | 'When you touch people who have flu or other diseases' (Year 6) | |
'Because they stand next to each other' (Year 1) | ||
When other people have got it and you go near them then you get it. (Year 6) | ||
'If you go close to someone with flu' (Year 6) | ||
Cold | 'It's cold and you didn't wear a coat, then you make cold' (Year 1) | |
'They don't wear a coat when they go outside, mostly in Winter'' (Year 6) | ||
Dirt/contamination on hands | 'If they don't wash their hands after they go to the bathroom' (Year 6) | |
'Eating without washing our hands' (Year 6) | ||
'If you touch something dirty and then touch your face' (Year 6) | ||
Other | 'Some immune systems can't deal with it' (Year 6) | |
'...when you are not active' (Year 6) | ||
Occasions for washing hands | Eating | 'to eat our food' (Year 1) |
'having dinner or tea' (Year 1) | ||
Before eating (Year 6) | ||
'Before I eat I have to wash my hands' (Year 6) | ||
'Before eating' (Year 6) | ||
Toilet | 'After toilet' (Year 6) | |
'After toilet' (Year 1 picture) | ||
Visible or sensory dirt | '...if you've played in the garden and touched soil' (Year 6) | |
Contact with contaminated object | 'If they do something dirty in the garden' (Year 1) | |
'...after eating with hands' (Year 6) | ||
Sneezing | 'After touching a bin' (Year 6 picture) | |
'After sneezing on hands' (Year 6 picture) | ||
Reasons for hand washing | Avoid germs | 'Because you might get germs off the toilet' (Year 1) |
'I went to the museum and they said germs go on your hands every 5 seconds.' (Year 6) | ||
'Hygiene, you always have germs on your hands so when you eat without washing your hands all those germs go into your body.' (Year 6) | ||
So you don't get germs on your mouth, face and hands (Year 1) | ||
'Because if you don't you will get germs and you will start to be ill' (Year 1) | ||
To get rid of germs (Year 6) | ||
Avoid illness | 'So I don't get ill' (Year 2) | |
Remove visible dirt | 'Cleanliness, so there's no bits on your hands and you're not muddy or dirty or anything.' (Year 6) | |
'Because when you do dirty stuff like handstands you might get your hands dirty.' (Year 1) | ||
Reasons for not washing hands | Don't want to/like dirt | 'Because they don't want to, don't feel like it' (Year 1) |
'They like their hands to be dirty' (Year 1) | ||
No need | 'They're not really bothered and they don't really care.' (Year 6) | |
Competing priorities | Because they don't eat' | |
'Because their favourite programme is coming and they don't want to miss it' (Year 1) | ||
Ignorance | '...playing a game and not want to miss anything' (Year 6) | |
'They don't know the reasons why they should' (Year 6) | ||
Poverty/moral judgement | 'Because they are poor and they stink' (Year 1) | |
Respiratory hygiene practices | Turn away | 'Face the other way so no one is there' (Year 1) |
'Turn my head away from everyone' (Year 6) | ||
Use Tissue | 'Use a tissue' (year 6) | |
Cover with hands | 'Cover my nose...get a tissue and put it' in the bin (Year 1) | |
'You need lots of tissues for sneezing so you can stop the sneeze go anywhere' (Year 1) | ||
Cover and wash hands | 'Put your hands up in front' (Year 1) | |
'You put your hand in front of your mouth' (Year 1) | ||
'Use a tissue or your hand and wash your hand afterwards' (Year 6) | ||
'Sneeze in hands and wash hands' (Year 6) | ||
'Cover my mouth and wash hands after' (Year 6) | ||
'If you cover your mouth with your hands when you sneeze it would be even better if you wash hands afterwards' (Year 6) | ||
Reasons for respiratory hygiene | Protect others | 'So they don't get germs on their face' (Year 1) |
'When you sneeze the germs fo out of your nose and onto other people' (Year 1) | ||
'Sneeze on your little sister and she won't go to nursery school' | ||
'It protects other people from catching your germs' (Year 6) | ||
Stop germs | 'Use a tissue so germs go on the tissue and don't spread' (Year 6). | |
'When you sneeze the germs travel along to another person but a tissue blocks the germs' (Year 6) | ||
'Germs get caught in the tissue and don't spread everywhere' (Year 6) | ||
'The tissue traps germs...and they can't get out' (Year 6) |
Children's knowledge and attitudes towards hand and respiratory hygiene
Key informant interviews with head teachers and teachers
Key informant interviews with school nurses
Behaviour trials
Hand washing with soap and water | Gel-based alcohol hand sanitiser | |
---|---|---|
Motivations | 'smells nice' | 'quicker than soap' |
'hands clean and nice' | 'easier than soap' | |
'germs are washed away' | 'don't need sink' | |
'you can see soap all over hand' | 'I like the smell' | |
'The doctor's gel felt fresher on your hands' | ||
Barriers | 'too many children - making classroom wet' | 'too smelly' |
'too much shoving and pushing' | 'hands felt funny' | |
'takes too long' | 'had a scratch and then it stings' | |
'too many people dripping soap over everyone while waiting' | 'Pen ink doesn't come off with gel.' | |
'too much rush' | ' [I liked the] Doctor's gel but I didn't like the smell' | |
'didn't like to use wet towel' |