Researchers Urge School-Health Educators to Prioritise Attitude and Skill-Driven Hand Hygiene Programs
A new study by researchers at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is calling for a shift in how schools promote handwashing among school children, urging education authorities to move beyond knowledge-based instruction and focus more on attitude and skill-enhancement strategies.
The study, published in the Journal of Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine, marks a significant contribution to hygiene education in Ghana and beyond, highlighting the need for more behaviourally informed approaches to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) interventions.
The research, led by Dr. Emmanuel Appiah-Brempong, a Senior Lecturer at the School of Public Health, KNUST and co-authored by other researchers from the Regional Water and Environmental Sanitation Centre, Kumasi (RWESCK), KNUST, revealed that simply teaching school children about germs and hygiene does little in changing their handwashing behaviour. Instead, what proved most effective were instructional strategies that targeted improvement in children’s attitudes and skills toward handwashing, and an awareness that people they cherish endorse the new behaviour, especially their peers and teachers.
