Community Project that is Hand Washing Education from Kindergarten to 3rd Grade - Term Paper Example

? Community Project that is Hand Washing Education from Kindergarten to 3rd Grade Introduction Hands are the primary source of conveying diseases from one to another. With due consideration to preventing germs and other communicable diseases, an effective and appropriate hand washing activity is considered to be the only way to stay away from a large number of physical ailments. Proper hand washing technique is quite easy to learn and is competent of reducing the increasing number of transferable germs both for the children and adults (Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2000). In the context of Carroll community, it can be stated that the area consists a huge population. Moreover, an increasing number of diseases were recorded within the adults as well as children. Therefore, this particular situation was turning into one of the challenging scenarios for this community in terms of maintaining awareness related to healthcare issues in order to reduce them among the people. The community involves quite significant numbers of educational institutions which provides physical awareness education along within their academic programs to the children of kindergarten to grade 3. Moreover, the government and other non government organizations are also learnt to be playing a crucial part regarding the increasing issue of various healthcare activities within the community (Moving Ideas, 2012). The study intends to focus on highlighting the major importance of hand-washing for the kindergarten to grade 3 children within the Carroll community. With regard to the aspect of hand wash for the preschool to grade 3 children, the study will also focus on various vulnerable diseases which might occur due to the lack of proper hand-washing practices. Moreover, the discussion will also encompass the importance and significance of hand-washing exercises which are considered to be quite effective for the preschool children for the reason of preventing or avoiding germs which may cause various communicable diseases. The various steps and instructions of washing hands and required elements to diminish the germs will also be highlighted within this discussion. Proposed Plan for Hand Washing Education Considering the aspect of preventing germs and communicable diseases which might be caused due to improper hand-washing practices, a plan needs to be proposed for creating awareness within the Carroll community and also would involve a number of definite activities. Each activity will be highly focused towards demonstrating the significance of hand-washing for the kindergartens and grade 3 children within the various areas of the community. A large number of proposed events will be executed in different locations which would entail school and community based programs with respect to creating awareness concerning the needs of hand-washing for the children within the Carroll community. Kindergarten significantly refers to the education program intended for the children in their preschool periods. The proposed planning for providing educational program related to the significance of hand-washing will include certain activities for the kindergarten till grade 3 children across the Carroll community. The proposed plan will involve certain objectives such as, general information that is when to wash hands, the actual process of washing hands along with the use of appropriate soap and liquid materials and miscellaneous information regarding prevention of probable diseases (Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services, 2008). General Information The general information of the awareness program will include various information and impacts related to germs which give rise to a number of physical ailments. With this concern, the hand-washing education program for the kindergartens in the Carroll community will highly focus to deliver the information regarding the negative influences of the germs. The awareness program will be focused to provide information on various communicable diseases to all the government as well as privately held educational institutions for children. The main objective of the proposed plan will be to create awareness regarding unhygienic condition of the hands which can be a reason for various communicable diseases for the children. Making the children aware with regard to the presence of various types of invisible germs leading to serious issues of physical illness will be the chief intention of the plan. The various segments of kindergarten to grade 3 children of the Carroll community will be involved in the process of the awareness program (Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2000). When to Wash Hands Hands are supposed to be one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body which easily catches germs during the daily practices of various activities. Especially, in the context of kindergarten to grade 3 children, it is considered to be a strict practice to wash hands frequently before touching food or drink items, after playing outside or feeding pets or playing with them. Moreover, it is also important to wash hands after using the toilet and after coughing, blowing nose or sneezing (Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services, 2008). The hand-washing program will also include and specify the minimum required time to wash their hands for kindergarten to grade 3 children of the Carroll community. Process of Hand Washing The demonstration of the process of hand-washing to the concerned age-group of children will involve a musical tune during the execution of the process. Source: (Centre for Disease Control, 2010). The hand-washing program will aim towards representing the instructions through a suitable video regarding the steps of washing hands. The video will include a process which will entail six different steps that need to be performed while washing hands such as, wetting hands, applying liquid soap, rubbing techniques of both hands, rinsing with running water, drying hands with clean and dry tissue or towel along with using a towel or a tissue paper to turn off the water tap. Moreover, the program will also project the importance of keeping the sink areas or washroom clean and tidy (Centre for Disease Control, 2010). Soaps and materials for Hand Wash Hand washing is principally regarded as important for the kindergarten to grade 3 children owing to their high degree of curiosity to touch or play with anything within their range. Therefore, it is increasingly important for them to keep their hands clean and hygienic before having meals. With this concern, it can be stated that the usage of appropriate washing material is highly required to prevent bacteria or other microorganisms with the aid of the hand-washing process. In the context of conducting hand washing programs for the kindergarten to grade 3 children of Carroll community, the application or usage of plain and antibacterial soap will be suggested to prevent bacteria and other microorganisms which are found to cause various physical ailments. The antibacterial liquid soaps are considered to be increasingly effective for reducing germs and does not involve any sort of side-effects of promoting resistance in the human body. Moreover, the usage of hot soapy water is considered to be comparatively efficient than plain cold water for the process of washing-hands. The hot soapy water is regarded as more effective to remove the natural oil on hands which easily grasps soils and other bacterial dirt during various regular activities (Centre for Disease Control, 2010). Miscellaneous Information The significance of hand-washing during various times in a day will be reiterated throughput the program, particularly before having meal and after using washroom to the various divisions of the Carroll community. The main objective of this plan is to trim down the occurrence of physical illnesses which results from various types of bacterial infections that gets communicated through our hands (Centre for Disease Control, 2010). The program will emphasize on delivering information regarding the significance of washing hands and the related techniques to a specific age-group of children that is from kindergarten till grade 3 within the Carroll community. Community Assessment The hand-washing education program for Carroll community will be included in several of the activities in the primary schools to spread the significance of hand wash specifically for the children of kindergarten till grade 3 within the community. An observation revealed that families constituted the major portion of the community (Moving Ideas, 2012). From the perspective of ‘Census Tract 720100’, it has been identified that the community includes 3458 number of its total population and the education level is considerably lower than the state as well as national average of the United States. The population under the age of 5 years is 252 which imply a rate of 7.29% of the total population of the community and is significantly higher than the Ohio (6.29%) and United States (6.62%). In addition, there are 122 public and private educational institutions which are characterized as nursery, preschools and kindergartens and 525 elementary schools relating to the grade of 1 to 8 within the community (World Media Group, LLC., 2012). Identification of Need According to the county assessment of Carroll community, it can be observed that the community engages an encouraging number of kindergarten and preschool educational programs through both the private and public schools. The kindergarten educational institutions within the community are playing an important part for the kindergarten to grade 3 children by providing physical education within their curriculum. However, the educational program of hand-washing can also be taken into concern for the reason of preventing various bacterial related ailments which can significantly affect the physical conditions of the specified age-group. The appropriate process of hand-washing is one of the simplest and cost effective ways of avoiding the transmission of diseases and therefore, decreasing the incidents of healthcare related ailments. Hand-washing assists to reduce micro-organisms automatically through the process of rinsing hands with plain water. The antibacterial hand wash products inhibit or remove the growth of the micro-organisms which are supposed to be hidden within the deep layers of the skin (World Health Organization, 2004). With the above stated concern it can be well mentioned that the hand-washing education program within the Carroll community will be conducted to provide information for promoting awareness within the people to prevent or avoid micro-organisms and other bacterial substances which may gravely affect the physical conditions of the kindergarten to grade 3 children. With due consideration to the significance of washing-hands for the kindergarten to grade 3 children, the hand-washing program will involve certain awareness campaigns to comprehend the actuality that more than 80 % of the common diseases entail high possibilities of being transmitted by hands. In the context of the kindergarten to grade 3 age-groups of children within the Carroll community, the hand washing education program will greatly contribute towards providing information regarding various diseases which can spread through hands (The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank, n.d). The kindergarten to grade 3 children needs to be trained or educated regarding the appropriate steps related to a proper hand-washing procedure because, an inappropriate hand-washing process fails to remove the germs which are hidden deep within the skin (World Media Group, LLC., 2012). Plan for Analysis The plan for conducting a hand-washing education program within the Carroll community will engage a range of activities both for the educational institutions and other social groups. In relation to the significance of hand-washing practices for the kindergarten to grade 3 children, the proposed plan will involve a government alliance along with an effective support of the voluntary organizations within the Carroll community. The hand-washing education for the kindergarten to grade 3 children within the community will entail certain activities which are as follows: Kindergarten to Grade 3 Schools The community is known to have 122 private and public educational institutions in various areas. Moreover, it has been observed that there are more than 250 children who can be considered to fall within the segment of kindergarten to grade 3. Therefore, the hand washing education program for this segment will aim to provide an awareness program through audio and video presentations along with various fun based activities among the children within their classrooms. The hand-washing education program will attempt to promote the significance of proper hand-washing exercises along with its competence to fight definite diseases through animated videos, posters as well as various plying activities for the kindergarten to grade 3 children. Playing Video: It can be stated that the use of certain videos can be considered as an imperative source to offer appropriate information to the children in kindergarten and grade 3 as the videos will demonstrate the actual techniques of hand-washing along with required soaps or other liquid materials which can effectively remove the germs from within the skin. The video will involve certain sections regarding some general forms of information, processes of hand-washing, the number of times for which the process needs to be repeated along with the required materials in order to reduce the germs which causes physical illnesses. Posters and Crafts: The posters will be designed to represent the actual process of hand-washing including steps of rubbing hands, using towel or tissue papers. The posters will also highlight the effective soaps and other material for washing hands. Singing and Playing Activities: In the context of hand washing education programs for the kindergarten to grade 3 children, it can be considered that the application of singing and playing activities would act as significant methods for providing information regarding the significance of washing hands. The activity will be conducted by engaging the children to take part in various games related to the importance of washing hands before and after having meals or any other food items. Furthermore, the children will be asked to sing songs during the hand-washing processes. The duration of these songs would be 20 seconds and the students would require finishing their hand-washing processes within the exact time of the song. Moreover, to ensure increased responses from the kindergarten to grade 3 children, there will be a reward and recognition activity to encourage them towards the application of hand-washing practices. Other Activities: The other activities of the hand-wash education program will aim towards developing the learning outcomes of the kindergarten to grade 3 children. In this step the children will be asked to perform the actual hand-washing process and identify the required materials and type of water to remove the bacterial substances that may cause various ailments. Moreover, the activity will also involve asking questions such as ‘Why to wash your hands’, ‘When to wash your hands’ and ‘How to wash your hands’. In addition, the children will also be asked to draw pictures of different places within the school or home where the germs might be found. The other drawing exercise such as, ‘Join the Dots’, ‘Color me’ and ‘Puzzle Solutions’ will be given to the children to encourage them towards comprehending the implication of washing hands. The hand-washing education program will involve the mentioned activities in each of the nursery, kindergarten and preschools both in the public and private institutions within the Carroll community. Conclusion The hand-washing education program can be considered to be one of the foremost exercises for the kindergarten children to keep them away from the adverse affects of bacterial and other infectious diseases. With this concern, the program will be beneficial for this segment within the Carroll community in order to educate them towards fighting against the germs which are hidden in the skin. The hands are measured to be one of the major carriers of various types of germs from other person or environment to the body. Hands can pick up microorganism from objects that are touched by other persons which might create a vulnerable condition for the human body. Therefore, an appropriate process of hand-washing can be highly considered to be necessary in order to prevent various types of germs that are transferred from the environment or any other subjects. The hand-washing education program for the kindergarten to grade 3 children can also be considered as one of the major steps for communicating the significance of hand-washing along with the other major issues that might get prompted due to non-washing or inappropriate washing of hands. However, it is also important to address a standard health need along with an effective support of the stakeholders in terms of conducting hand-washing education program for any community. In addition, the effective cooperation of the local government as well as other voluntary organizations would also play a crucial role to successfully implement the aspects of certain health related issues (The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank, n.d.). From the perspective of hand-washing education for the kindergarten to grade 3 children of the Carroll community, the educational program will be beneficial to trigger a vital habit for this segment in order to prevent bacterial infections and the development of other similar microorganism which could pose an adverse impact on their health. Moreover, the hand-washing education program can also play an important role in terms of constructing a healthy environment both for the students and the whole community as well. The analysis strongly suggests that an effective hand hygiene curriculum for the kindergarten to grade 3 children calls for the requirement of certain factors such as, support of the administrative services and other voluntary organizations. References Centre for Disease Control. (2010). Do bugs need drugs? Retrieved from http://www.bccdc.ca/NR/rdonlyres/127AEAB1-AE2C-4AEA-B55C-03A361DA4340/0/BCKindergartenDBND.pdf Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services. (2008). Hand washing lesson plan kindergarten. Retrieved from http://www.hcphes.org/PROJ/Handwashing%20Curriculum/Handwashing%20lesson%20plan-%20Kindergarten.pdf Massachusetts Department of Public Health. (2000). Hand washing lesson plans for kindergarten – Sixth grade. Retrieved from http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/cdc/handwashing/lesson-plans-k6.pdf Moving Ideas. (2012). Carroll, OH city data. Retrieved from http://www.movingideas.org/carroll-oh/ The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. (n.d). The handwashing handbook. Retrieved from http://esa.un.org/iys/docs/san_lib_docs/Handwashing_Handbook.pdf World Health Organization. (2004). Hand washing. Retrieved from http://www2.wpro.who.int/sars/docs/practicalguidelines/dec2004/annexes.pdf World Media Group, LLC. (2012). Census tract 720100 in Carroll county, Ohio population and races. Retrieved from http://www.usa.com/OH019720100-population-and-races.html Read More