Increasing hand washing compliance with a simple visual cue

E.W. Ford, B.T. Boyer, N. Menachemi and T.R. Huerta

American Journal of Public Health, 2014, vol. 104, issue 10, 1851-1856

Abstract: We tested the efficacy of a simple, visual cue to increase hand washing with soap and water. Automated towel dispensers in 8 public bathrooms were set to present a towel either with or without activation by users. We set the 2 modes to operate alternately for 10 weeks. Wireless sensors were used to record entry into bathrooms. Towel and soap consumption rates were checked weekly. There were 97 351 hand-washing opportunities across all restrooms. Towel use was 22.6% higher (P = .05) and soap use was 13.3% higher (P = .003) when the dispenser presented the towel without user activation than when activation was required. Results showed that a visual cue can increase hand-washing compliance in public facilities.

Keywords: soap, article; attitude to health; audiovisual aid; clinical trial; female; hand washing; human; male, Audiovisual Aids; Female; Hand Disinfection; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Male; Soaps (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301477

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2013.301477_6

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301477

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().