Associate investigator on campus-wide study of how the arrangement of bathroom facilities impact re-contamination. Presentation given at the 2010 The Association for Marketing & Healthcare Research Annual Conference in Lake Tahoe, Nevada on February 26, 2010.

1. Hand washing for disease prevention:Hand washing for disease prevention:
Facility barriers on campusFacility barriers on campus
Beth Hogan, Ph.D., CHES, Associate ProfessorBeth Hogan, Ph.D., CHES, Associate Professor
Department of ManagementDepartment of Management
Fayetteville State UniversityFayetteville State University
David L. Matthews, B.S.David L. Matthews, B.S.
MSL Candidate,MSL Candidate,
Pfeiffer UniversityPfeiffer University
Presented to The Association for Marketing & Healthcare ResearchPresented to The Association for Marketing & Healthcare Research
Annual Conference, Lake Tahoe, NevadaAnnual Conference, Lake Tahoe, Nevada
February, 2010February, 2010

2. Introduction/Need for the StudyIntroduction/Need for the Study
• Infectious diseases are a threat to public health.
– Norovirus
– Seasonal Influenza
– The common cold
– Others
• Emerging infectious diseases have the potential to cause
pandemics with subsequent high levels of mortality and
morbidity.
• In spite of advanced technology, the simplest preventive
measures are among the most effective means of
reducing morbidity and mortality.

3. ..
Hand washingHand washing
Proven effective in reducing the spread of diseaseProven effective in reducing the spread of disease

4. Hand washingHand washing
• Proper hand washing technique is well described by
public health sources.
(details here fr CDC?)
• Requirements for the process are minimal.
• Hand washing practice is underutilized among the
general public as well as among healthcare providers.
• Many health education campaigns have focused on
increasing hand washing to reduce current health threats
•

5. HandwashingHandwashing
• In addition to the knowledge of hand washing technique, access to
the needed tools is crucial.
• Many restroom facilities do not have the needed items for effective
hand washing.
• Structural configurations of restrooms often contribute to re-
contamination of hands after hand washing.
• Although most individuals often encounter such barriers, no
research studies could be found that quantified this phenomenon.

6. Methodology
• Undergraduate students in Human Resources Management study the
need to promote employee health and safety, thus disease
prevention is a topic of interest.
• A class discussion about the need for managers to provide the tools
for disease prevention in the workplace led to the design of a field
project to quantify whether or not campus restrooms had the needed
items/structural configuration to promote effective hand washing.
• The survey instrument was designed to assess the presence of
needed hand washing items as well as structural barriers to effective
hand washing.

7. Methodology (cont.)Methodology (cont.)
• The campus buildings were divided
among student groups for on-site
evaluation of restroom facilities.
• Students completed survey forms as they
inspected each restroom within the
designated campus buildings.
•

8. Survey instrumentSurvey instrument
• Add sample of instrument here

9. Implementation
– Nine students in Human Resource management class
completed the project, structured as an assignment for 15% of
the course grade.
– All reviewed the CDC section about disease prevention via hand
washing.
– All completed NIH on-line Human Subjects Training module:
presented certificate (ID number) on completion
– Students given survey materials with explanation regarding
completion.
– Campus map was used to assign buildings to student groups.
– Data collected in two days
– Students entered the data in a spreadsheet after brief training by
the researchers.

10. ResultsResults
• Seventy-nine restrooms were evaluated by students.
• Evaluation revealed mixed results in terms of having the
needed items as well as structural configuration to
support effective hand washing.

19. Conclusions/Next stepsConclusions/Next steps
• As a pedagogical tool, the field project motivated
students to examine the role of facility issues in
terms of disease prevention.
• The role of managers in disease prevention was
reinforced.
• Need to refine instrument
**Add specifics here
• Expansion of project to include a service
component and off-campus evaluations.