Resident Physician Cohen Children's Medical Center Queens, New York, United States
Background: Poor hygiene practices among school-aged children increases the risk of preventable infectious diseases, low self-esteem, and bullying, and is often associated with limited access to community-based resources. In Far Rockaway, a neighborhood of Queens, NY that faces unique socioeconomic disparities, community leaders have expressed that children sometimes struggle with poor personal hygiene, particularly in adolescent years. Interestingly, few studies depict personal hygiene interventions in the US, focusing more on developing countries. This project describes a personal hygiene intervention among school-aged children in the US, conducted as part of an academic partnership between Northwell Health residency programs and the Child Center of New York, a local social service and behavioral health organization. Objective: To (1) design and implement a needs assessment to evaluate students’ initial hygiene practices, (2) create an interactive multimodal curriculum based on needs assessment results, and (3) implement principles of community-based participatory research to assess students’ knowledge and interests to design subsequent sessions. Design/Methods: The evaluation process had three components: (1) an anonymous needs assessment of participants’ hygiene practices, (2) knowledge assessment after educational content delivery, and (3) qualitative evaluation of participants’ open-ended responses. Each component was conducted with 5th-8th graders at 3 sites in Far Rockaway. Content was delivered as 3 interactive, 20-60 minute sessions on face, body, hair, nail, and dental care. Each session included videos, a game-based learning platform, and group discussions. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the needs and knowledge assessments. Participants’ qualitative responses were thematically analyzed independently by 3 authors. Results: A total of 227 students participated in the program. The needs assessment showed on average, students brushed their teeth 2.8 times/day (SD 1.9, n=96), showered 8.5 times/week (SD 3.9, n=108), and cut their nails 1.6 times/month (SD 1.7, n=54) [Fig. 1]. Knowledge assessment scores after content delivery ranged from 29-70% correct [Fig. 2]. Qualitative themes that students reported interest in learning more about were hair and nails (32%), immune system (23%), body (19%), body odor (7%), teeth (2%), and mental health (1%) [Fig. 3].
Conclusion(s): This project highlights gaps in personal hygiene knowledge and habits in this cohort of elementary and middle school-aged children, and the importance of further screening and education in all schools across the country.
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