Hygiene practices in childhood: a comprehensive approach from nursing

Jennifer Lizcano Ramírez, Elena Melissa Alava Montes, Griselda Esmeralda Vera Matute and Jenrry Fredy Chávez-Arizala

Nursing Depths Series, 2024, vol. 3, 122-122

Abstract: The research focused on the importance of hygiene in childhood, understood as a set of essential practices for preserving individual and collective health. It highlighted that, from Florence Nightingale's contributions in the 19th century to the contemporary approaches of Leininger, Orem and Pender, nursing has recognised the influence of the physical, social and cultural environment on disease prevention. The study emphasised that children aged 9 to 12 were at a decisive stage in consolidating hygiene habits, being particularly vulnerable to gastrointestinal, respiratory and dermatological infections when these practices were not applied properly. It also showed that Nightingale's environmental theory remained valid today, as clean air, clean water and environmental hygiene continued to be determining factors in health. It was highlighted that Leininger's cultural perspective allowed for the design of educational strategies adapted to local contexts, while Orem's self-care model and Pender's health promotion theory emphasised autonomy and personal motivation for the adoption of healthy behaviours. The lack of hygiene, particularly hand washing, increased the transmission of preventable diseases. Therefore, it was stated that nursing played a key role as an educational and social agent, not only in clinical care, but also in the formation of sustainable habits in childhood. It was concluded that hygiene should be understood as a comprehensive practice that strengthened health, self-esteem, and equity in childhood.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

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:dbk:nursin:2024v3a30

DOI: 10.56294/nds2024122

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Nursing Depths Series from AG Editor (Argentina)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Javier Gonzalez-Argote ().