A study found a simplified handwashing routine helps reduce sickness-related absenteeism for students with mild intellectual disability, according to APIC.
Here are five things to know about the study.
1. Researchers conducted the study in two special education schools in Hong Kong. The study reduced the World Health Organization's seven-step handwashing technique to five steps by combining two steps.
2. The Hong King Polytechnic University researchers compared hand hygiene measurements between the intervention (five-step method) and control (seven-step method) groups after the implementation of the simplified program. Researchers used fluorescent stain test photos to compare the results.
3. In the intervention group, the pre- to post-test difference was 212 percent grater than the difference in the control group.
4. The intervention group reduced sickness-related absenteeism by 40 percent more than the control group.
5. The intervention consisted of:
• The simplified 5-step handwashing technique
• A handwashing song
• A behavior modeling video
• A poster with visual cues for the five steps of the handwashing procedure
• A reward card system for behavioral reinforcement
• A validated handwashing checklist for concordance observation.
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