Experimental Pretesting of Hand-Washing Interventions in a Natural Setting

Bibliographic Data

ID11032229
AuthorsGaby Judah (0000-0003-3322-9760, Gaby Judah, Robert Aunger, Wolf-Peter Schmidt, and Val Curtis are with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Susan Michie is with University College London. Stewart Granger is with Unilever Research, Port Sunlight, UK.), Robert Aunger (0000-0001-8136-9376, Gaby Judah, Robert Aunger, Wolf-Peter Schmidt, and Val Curtis are with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Susan Michie is with University College London. Stewart Granger is with Unilever Research, Port Sunlight, UK.), Wolf‐peter Schmidt (0000-0001-7449-4152, University of London), Wolf-Peter Schmidt (Gaby Judah, Robert Aunger, Wolf-Peter Schmidt, and Val Curtis are with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Susan Michie is with University College London. Stewart Granger is with Unilever Research, Port Sunlight, UK.), Susan Michie (0000-0003-0063-6378, Gaby Judah, Robert Aunger, Wolf-Peter Schmidt, and Val Curtis are with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Susan Michie is with University College London. Stewart Granger is with Unilever Research, Port Sunlight, UK.), Stewart Granger (Gaby Judah, Robert Aunger, Wolf-Peter Schmidt, and Val Curtis are with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Susan Michie is with University College London. Stewart Granger is with Unilever Research, Port Sunlight, UK.), Stewart P Granger (University of London), Val Curtis (0000-0001-8994-2878, Gaby Judah, Robert Aunger, Wolf-Peter Schmidt, and Val Curtis are with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Susan Michie is with University College London. Stewart Granger is with Unilever Research, Port Sunlight, UK.)
Year2009
Volume99
IssueS2
PagesS405-S411
Publication date2009-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2009.164160
PMID19797755
PMCIDPMC4504379
OpenAlexW2011787352
LanguageEN
Citations received39
References cited33

Objectives. We pretested interventions derived from different domains of behavior change theory to determine their effectiveness at increasing hand washing with soap in a natural setting. Methods. We installed wireless devices in highway service station restrooms to record entry and soap use. Two text-only messages for each of 7 psychological domains were compared for their effect on soap-use rates. We collected data on nearly 200 000 restroom uses. Results. The knowledge activation domain was most effective for women, with a relative increase in soap use of 9.4% compared with the control condition (P = .001). For men, disgust was the most effective, increasing soap use by 9.8% (P = .001). Disgust was not significantly better than the control condition for women, nor was knowledge activation for men. Messages based on social norms and social status were effective for both genders. Conclusions. Our data show that unobtrusive observation of behavior in a natural setting can help identify the most effective interventions for changing behaviors of public health importance. The gender differences we found suggest that public health interventions should target men and women differently

Control (management) · Disgust · Environmental health · Intervention (counseling) · Psychological intervention · Public health · SOAP · Social influence · World Wide Web · Applied Psychology · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Computer Science · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Psychology of Social Influence · Social Psychology · Gerontology

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