Early Childhood Education/Early Years (Including emergency settings)
Debra Laxton and Marilyn Leask with inputs from the MESH Early Years Editorial Board | View as single page | Feedback/Impact
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Early Childhood Education/Early Years |
Global resources on Hand Washing: staying safe'A Germ's Journey' is a global package of innovative educational resources for young children to learn about germs and hand washing and how this links with their health. An interactive book and website have been developed by a multidisciplinary team (microbiology, education and psychology Germs Journey is an interdisciplinary research project resulting in the co-creation of resourced-based interventions (including books, webgames, videos and posters) that have enhanced understanding of the importance of handwashing, germ transfer and disease development, thereby leading to improved handwashing. The resources are now utilised across three continents (UK, Asia and West Africa) in schools, museum exhibits, community centres and refugee camps. Reaching 145,285 people thus far, the ‘Germ’s Journey’ health-education intervention has demonstrated that our multi-component resources improve handwashing behaviour in children (3-5 years) and enhance knowledge of germ transfer and is reducing contraction of diseases such as diarrhoea associated with poor hygiene. Most recently, the resources have been developed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in line with WHO guidelines stating that handwashing is the most effective strategy for prevention of infection. CLICK HERE FREE RESOURCES IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES (Posters, Books, Action Songs) Germs Journey website link -Join Us On A Germ's Journey | A Germ's Journey References – to research-based evidence on hand-washing (Germs Journey Project) Younie S., Mitchell C., Bisson M-J., Crosby S., Kukona A., and Laird K. (2020) ‘Improving the efficacy of young children’s handwashing behaviour and understanding of germ transfer: The impact of A Germ’s Journey educational resources in schools and public spaces.’ Plos one, 15(11): e0242134. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242134 Crosby, S., Younie, S., Williamson, I. and Laird, K. (2020) ‘Evaluating approaches to designing effective co-created hand-hygiene interventions for children in India, Sierra Leone and the UK’. Plos one, 15(9): e0239234. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239234 Crosby, S., Laird, K. and Younie, S. (2020) ‘Children and handwashing: Developing a resource to promote health and well-being in low- and middle-income countries’, Health Education Journal, 79 (2) pp. 123-137. DOI: 10.1177/0017896919866227. DORA: https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/18283 Crosby, S., Laird, K. and Younie, S. (2019) ‘Interactive health-hygiene education for early years: the creation and evaluation of learning resources to improve understanding of handwashing practice’, International Journal of Early Years Education, 27 (4) pp.374-390. DOI:10.1080/09669760.2019.1628010. DORA: https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/17836 |
