Determinants of Hand Hygiene Behaviour for Disease Prevention in Military Contexts : An Integrative Literature Review
Kalliomäki, Janne (2024)
Kalliomäki, Janne
2024
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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024121736553
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024121736553
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The purpose of this study was to identify determinants that support hand hygiene behaviour in a military context. The research question was: What kind of determinants might affect the hand hygiene behaviour in a military context?
Communicable diseases in a military context are a relevant and continuous problem. The significance and effect on the target population can be seen on at the individual health, security, and economical levels. Good hand hygiene is maybe the most important single factor in disease prevention. Research targeting the behaviour determinants of hand hygiene gives a better understanding of the phenomenon for health providers and policy makers.
Behaviour Centred Design (BCD) was the framework used in this study. BCD was designed to be used in human behaviour change interventions. In this study it provided the behavioural determinant categories which were used for categorising and analysing the data found.
Integrative literature review was the research method used in this study. Through various stages, “hand washing behaviour” became the actual search term. Due to the paucity of behavioural research in the military environment, the target group had to be expanded to include environments with similarities such as hierarchy, instructions and supervision. The data search was done using the ProQuest and PubMed electronic databases. After a three-phase evaluation from the original 396 studies found, 10 studies were included in this research. The data quality assessment was done using a Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. The data was analysed, and significant data categorised using framework analysis, based on the behavioural categories of BCD.
In this work, the findings were presented through BCD categories. Numerically, the largest number of factors with a positive effect on hand hygiene behaviour were found from brain category including subcategories like executive control, motivation, and reactive behaviour. In those categories were determinants like training, feedback, desire to protect others, habits, signs encouraging hand washing, and attitudes which all were mentioned in more than one study. Other determinants that were mentioned more often than in one study were self-efficacy, well-equipped handwashing facilities, and clean sinks. These determinants belong to the capabilities and infrastructure categories. An undeliberate discovery of this review was how knowledge alone was not a significant determinant of behaviour change.
None of the studies included were from the military environment, which shows how under studied the subject is in that context. Determinants related to communal environments were mapped although the sample was quite small, but it fit well into the framework used and the framework itself proved its usability. The findings reveal that while awareness of hand hygiene is high, the gap between intention and behaviour remains a challenge, highlighting the need to build education beyond just sharing information.
Communicable diseases in a military context are a relevant and continuous problem. The significance and effect on the target population can be seen on at the individual health, security, and economical levels. Good hand hygiene is maybe the most important single factor in disease prevention. Research targeting the behaviour determinants of hand hygiene gives a better understanding of the phenomenon for health providers and policy makers.
Behaviour Centred Design (BCD) was the framework used in this study. BCD was designed to be used in human behaviour change interventions. In this study it provided the behavioural determinant categories which were used for categorising and analysing the data found.
Integrative literature review was the research method used in this study. Through various stages, “hand washing behaviour” became the actual search term. Due to the paucity of behavioural research in the military environment, the target group had to be expanded to include environments with similarities such as hierarchy, instructions and supervision. The data search was done using the ProQuest and PubMed electronic databases. After a three-phase evaluation from the original 396 studies found, 10 studies were included in this research. The data quality assessment was done using a Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. The data was analysed, and significant data categorised using framework analysis, based on the behavioural categories of BCD.
In this work, the findings were presented through BCD categories. Numerically, the largest number of factors with a positive effect on hand hygiene behaviour were found from brain category including subcategories like executive control, motivation, and reactive behaviour. In those categories were determinants like training, feedback, desire to protect others, habits, signs encouraging hand washing, and attitudes which all were mentioned in more than one study. Other determinants that were mentioned more often than in one study were self-efficacy, well-equipped handwashing facilities, and clean sinks. These determinants belong to the capabilities and infrastructure categories. An undeliberate discovery of this review was how knowledge alone was not a significant determinant of behaviour change.
None of the studies included were from the military environment, which shows how under studied the subject is in that context. Determinants related to communal environments were mapped although the sample was quite small, but it fit well into the framework used and the framework itself proved its usability. The findings reveal that while awareness of hand hygiene is high, the gap between intention and behaviour remains a challenge, highlighting the need to build education beyond just sharing information.