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Pilot of a Low-Cost Elementary School Handwashing Intervention in Bangladesh: Acceptability, Feasibility, and Potential for Sustainability

Schoolchildren frequently transmit respiratory and gastrointestinal infections because of dense person-to-person contact in schools. We piloted a low-cost handwashing intervention among elementary schoolchildren in Bangladesh. We trained teachers to lead behavior change communication sessions using...

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Autores principales: Sultana, Farhana, Unicomb, Leanne, Rahman, Mahbubur, Ali, Shahjahan, Southern, Dorothy L., Yeasmin, Dalia, Sarkar, Rouha Anamika, Das, Kishor K., Nizame, Fosiul Alam, Winch, Peter J., Luby, Stephen P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8733513/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34844216
http://dx.doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.20-1335
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author Sultana, Farhana
Unicomb, Leanne
Rahman, Mahbubur
Ali, Shahjahan
Southern, Dorothy L.
Yeasmin, Dalia
Sarkar, Rouha Anamika
Das, Kishor K.
Nizame, Fosiul Alam
Winch, Peter J.
Luby, Stephen P.
author_facet Sultana, Farhana
Unicomb, Leanne
Rahman, Mahbubur
Ali, Shahjahan
Southern, Dorothy L.
Yeasmin, Dalia
Sarkar, Rouha Anamika
Das, Kishor K.
Nizame, Fosiul Alam
Winch, Peter J.
Luby, Stephen P.
author_sort Sultana, Farhana
collection PubMed
description Schoolchildren frequently transmit respiratory and gastrointestinal infections because of dense person-to-person contact in schools. We piloted a low-cost handwashing intervention among elementary schoolchildren in Bangladesh. We trained teachers to lead behavior change communication sessions using flipcharts to encourage students’ handwashing before eating, after defecating, and after cleaning school toilets; provided handwashing stations (reservoirs with taps and stool + basin + soapy water solution [mix of 30 gm detergent with 1.5 L water] + pump top bottle with steel holder); and formed hygiene committees for maintenance and covering the recurrent cost of detergent. We evaluated intervention acceptability, feasibility, and potential for sustainability at 1 and 14 months after the intervention. At baseline, of 300 before eating events, no one washed hands with soap, and 99.7% (299) did not wash hands at all as soap was unavailable. Out of 269 after toileting events, 0.7% (2) washed hands with soap, and 88% (237) did not wash hands. After 4 weeks of the intervention, 45% (87/195 before eating events), 83% (155/186 after toileting events), and 100% (15/15 after cleaning toilet events) washed both hands with soapy water as children found it accessible, low cost, and child friendly. After 14 months, 9.4% (55/586 before eating events) and 37% (172/465 after toileting events) washed both hands with soapy water for health benefits. The intervention was acceptable and feasible; it overcame limited access to soap and water and was affordable as schools covered the recurrent costs of detergent. Further research should explore long-term habit adoption and impact on health and attendance.
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spelling pubmed-87335132022-01-21 Pilot of a Low-Cost Elementary School Handwashing Intervention in Bangladesh: Acceptability, Feasibility, and Potential for Sustainability Sultana, Farhana Unicomb, Leanne Rahman, Mahbubur Ali, Shahjahan Southern, Dorothy L. Yeasmin, Dalia Sarkar, Rouha Anamika Das, Kishor K. Nizame, Fosiul Alam Winch, Peter J. Luby, Stephen P. Am J Trop Med Hyg Article Schoolchildren frequently transmit respiratory and gastrointestinal infections because of dense person-to-person contact in schools. We piloted a low-cost handwashing intervention among elementary schoolchildren in Bangladesh. We trained teachers to lead behavior change communication sessions using flipcharts to encourage students’ handwashing before eating, after defecating, and after cleaning school toilets; provided handwashing stations (reservoirs with taps and stool + basin + soapy water solution [mix of 30 gm detergent with 1.5 L water] + pump top bottle with steel holder); and formed hygiene committees for maintenance and covering the recurrent cost of detergent. We evaluated intervention acceptability, feasibility, and potential for sustainability at 1 and 14 months after the intervention. At baseline, of 300 before eating events, no one washed hands with soap, and 99.7% (299) did not wash hands at all as soap was unavailable. Out of 269 after toileting events, 0.7% (2) washed hands with soap, and 88% (237) did not wash hands. After 4 weeks of the intervention, 45% (87/195 before eating events), 83% (155/186 after toileting events), and 100% (15/15 after cleaning toilet events) washed both hands with soapy water as children found it accessible, low cost, and child friendly. After 14 months, 9.4% (55/586 before eating events) and 37% (172/465 after toileting events) washed both hands with soapy water for health benefits. The intervention was acceptable and feasible; it overcame limited access to soap and water and was affordable as schools covered the recurrent costs of detergent. Further research should explore long-term habit adoption and impact on health and attendance. The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2022-01 2021-11-29 /pmc/articles/PMC8733513/ /pubmed/34844216 http://dx.doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.20-1335 Text en © 2022 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Article
Sultana, Farhana
Unicomb, Leanne
Rahman, Mahbubur
Ali, Shahjahan
Southern, Dorothy L.
Yeasmin, Dalia
Sarkar, Rouha Anamika
Das, Kishor K.
Nizame, Fosiul Alam
Winch, Peter J.
Luby, Stephen P.
Pilot of a Low-Cost Elementary School Handwashing Intervention in Bangladesh: Acceptability, Feasibility, and Potential for Sustainability
title Pilot of a Low-Cost Elementary School Handwashing Intervention in Bangladesh: Acceptability, Feasibility, and Potential for Sustainability
title_full Pilot of a Low-Cost Elementary School Handwashing Intervention in Bangladesh: Acceptability, Feasibility, and Potential for Sustainability
title_fullStr Pilot of a Low-Cost Elementary School Handwashing Intervention in Bangladesh: Acceptability, Feasibility, and Potential for Sustainability
title_full_unstemmed Pilot of a Low-Cost Elementary School Handwashing Intervention in Bangladesh: Acceptability, Feasibility, and Potential for Sustainability
title_short Pilot of a Low-Cost Elementary School Handwashing Intervention in Bangladesh: Acceptability, Feasibility, and Potential for Sustainability
title_sort pilot of a low-cost elementary school handwashing intervention in bangladesh: acceptability, feasibility, and potential for sustainability
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8733513/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34844216
http://dx.doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.20-1335
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