Hand Hygiene Promotion: An Essential Strategy for Preventing Foodborne Disease in Elementary Schools
Date of Award
12-2014
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Legacy Department
Food, Nutrition, and Culinary Science
Committee Chair/Advisor
Angela M. Fraser, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Julia L. Sharp, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Felix H. Barron, Ph.D.
Abstract
Student absenteeism is a pervasive problem in the United States, causing a number of educational, economic, and institutional problems. Hand-hygiene interventions have been reported to be a method for reducing illness-associated student absenteeism. As an increasing number of schools offer self-service, including salad bars and bowls of whole fresh fruit, opportunities for the transmission of foodborne pathogens via hands could possibly increase illness-associated student absenteeism. To address this problem, we conducted a two-phase study. First, we conducted a systematic literature review to evaluate peer-reviewed studies (N=24) that reported an association between hand hygiene interventions and illness-associated absenteeism reduction in elementary schools. We concluded that hand-hygiene interventions were associated with reducing illness-related absenteeism reduction in elementary schools. Secondly, we administered a web-based survey to SC school foodservice managers (N=1231) to assess their perceptions and behaviors about hand hygiene in the school foodservice environment. Findings from the 403 eligible responses showed that school foodservice mangers perceived a low level of susceptibility to gastrointestinal diseases, a high level of perceived efficacy to protect self and others from getting gastrointestinal diseases, a high level of agreement with proper food-safety behaviors. Furthermore, there was an insignificant relationship between foodservice manger risk perceptions and food-safety behaviors. Our results will inform the development of a hand-hygiene intervention to be delivered in elementary schools in upstate South Carolina.
Recommended Citation
Wang, Zhangqi, "Hand Hygiene Promotion: An Essential Strategy for Preventing Foodborne Disease in Elementary Schools" (2014). All Theses. 2036.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/2036