導入洗手衛教以提昇社區民眾洗手知識、技術及行為之成效

Introduction of Health-care Education to Enhance the Handwashing Knowledge, Skill, and Behavior in the Community

避免疾病感染及維護個人健康最簡單、有效的就是正確勤洗手，據調查顯示雖然民眾知道探病前後要洗手，但仍有逾五成民眾沒做到。本次主要針對社區居民及學生族群進行社區洗手運動的衛教，希望提升民眾對洗手及細菌傳播的認知，加強民眾正確洗手方式，降低感染機會。藉由課程教學、問卷調查、洗手技術評核、自評洗手頻率等資料蒐集，由問卷中發現只有63.6%上過洗手相關課程，顯見社區或學校推廣洗手課程仍不足，應全面推廣洗手衛生教育，減少每年腸病毒、流行感冒等傳染病疫情重複肆虐。藉由洗手技術的評估正確率偏低（7%），顯示大多數民眾不能正確執行洗手步驟，課程教學宜搭配實際演練才能收真正成效。就整體衛教成效看，洗手知識、洗手技術及部分洗手行為在衛教課程後皆有統計顯著進步（p<0.05），驗證洗手課程可以有效提升社區民眾洗手知能，未來可以推廣至其他社區民眾。期望透過逐年普及化的洗手教育宣導，可以真正落實勤洗手。

Handwashing is the easiest and the most effective approach for protection against infectious diseases. Our surveys have indicated that more than 50% of the people do not wash their hands before and after visiting the hospitals, although they are aware of the importance of handwashing. In this study, we educated the local residents and students about the significance of handwashing. We expected that the probability of pathogen infection can be reduced by informing them about the correct handwashing procedure and increasing their awareness about the correlation between handwashing and the spread of pathogens. Data obtained from our survey showed that only 63.6% people had previously participated in a formal training session on handwashing. This suggests that more people need to be educated about handwashing concepts to avoid the recurrent yearly epidemics of enterovirus and influenza virus infections. The low rates of accurate handwashing (7%) among the subjects indicated that most people did not know the accurate handwashing procedure. Thus, to achieve the desired results, the subjects must undergo practical training in proper handwashing in addition to receiving classroom instructions. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) improvement in knowledge, skill, and handwashing habit was observed after the people were educated about handwashing. This result confirmed that the course on handwashing is useful and effective, and it can be introduced in other communities in the future. We expect to educate people regarding hand hygiene compliance, handwashing will get into habits in our daily life.