Promoting Personal Hygiene among Primary School Children: Stories of ‘Hope'

Abstract

Health care associated infections persist as a major problem in young children. Research studies have concluded that knowledge of hygiene does not directly link to its practice in day to day life. Storytelling was used as a method to

promote enabling hygienic practices with an aim that these become a day to day activity for all the children of the

groups under observation. These children studying in a state run school of Delhi and were staying in a nearby urban slum area. The impact of the intervention was fairly successful with the children and during further observations they were seen practicing desirable hygienic practices in school. The study points to the implicit role of holding more such interactive sessions for imparting health education on important health matters such as personal hygiene and prevention of communicable disease. Stories became so effective because they presented essential ideas and values in a simple and entertaining form. Storytelling in classroom came up as an educational tool that inspired children's learning as they picked up the desirable hygiene habits naturally from the characters of the stories.