Following the Thammasat University Directives for COVID-19 Prevention and advice from international ministries of health, all TU students are aware that hand washing with soap is a simple, but effective, way to prevent illness.

Even when there are no pandemics threatening cities, washing hands frequently can provide good protection against influenza, the common cold, and other problems.

Academic research potential 

The Thammasat University Library owns some academic studies about the effectiveness of hand washing in public health in the Kingdom. 

Internationally, there have also been abundant scholarly publications, such as in the September-December 2015 issue of International Journal of Caring Sciences.

As a Discovery Service search on the TU Library homepage indicates, the International Journal of Caring Sciences is an academic journal in the fields of health care, nursing, public health, health sciences, caring philosophy, allied sciences, and public aspects of medicine. It is part of the THAIPUL Consortium-ILL of the TU Library Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service.

The article, Hand Washing of Nursing Students: An Observational Study is by Gülçin Avşar, PhD, RN Assistant Professors, Department of Fundamentals of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey, and colleagues.

Erzurum is a city in eastern Anatolia (Asian Turkey). It is the largest city in, and capital of, Erzurum Province.

The article’s abstract reads as follows:

• Background: Hand washing is the most important way in transmission of hospital infections and is the easiest, most efficient and cost-effective method to prevent hospital infection. Therefore, health care workers should pay attention to hand washing. Especially, because nursing spend more time with patients than any other health care workers group, their compliance with hand washing seems to be more vital. Similarly, nursing students spend a long time during their studies on clinical placements and therefore have to be exceptionally sensitive in hand washing for one more reason that is for gaining this habit in their preparation for their future nursing role. The purpose of this observational study was to determine behaviors of the nursing students towards hygienic hand washing.
• Method: The students observed by observers during the nursing practice. The observers were selected in each practice group. The participant of the study were 106 nursing students. Results: Students were evaluated according to the frequency of their hand washing in required situations. It was found that 50% of the students washed their hands 1-3 times. Considering the students’ reasons for hand washing; the study determined that they were washing their hands at a maximum rate of 36.2% after the medicine administration at the clinic. In terms of the duration of hand washing it was found to be lasting for 60 second or above only for a 4.7%. Conclusion: Nursing students did not use the correct technique to wash hands in sufficient number and duration and that they usually washed their hands for the reason of protecting themselves.

Another academic research study on this topic, Hand Washing Practices in a College Town Environment, was published in the April 2013 issue of the Journal of Environmental Health. 

An Ebsco Host search for this publication provides full text access for TU students and the rest of the TU community. It publishes peer-reviewed technical articles, commentary, thematic issues, legislative updates and news on all issues of interest to environmental health professionals, published by the National Environmental Health Association.

The article is by Professor Carl P. Borchgrevink of The School of Hospitality Business, Michigan State University, Michigan, United States of America.  His university homepage describes how Professor Borchgrevink’s interest in hand washing was inspired by his experience in the food and hospitality industries:

Dr. Carl P. Borchgrevink has a Ph.D. in Communication from Michigan State University, an MS in Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administration from the University of Massachusetts, a Norwegian undergraduate degree from the Norwegian Hotel School, a culinary degree from Oslo Vocational School, and has a Norwegian Chef’s Certificate (Kokkefagbrev).

Believing that hospitality students need a global perspective and should travel or study abroad, Dr. Carl P. Borchgrevink is highly involved in The School’s study abroad and exchange programs. 

Prior to his academic career, Dr. Carl P. Borchgrevink, accumulated 14 years of hospitality business experience. The positions he held included Chef, Restaurant Manager, and Food-service Manager.  He has been at Michigan State University since 1989. He is the Director of The School of Hospitality Business and The John and Becky Duffey Faculty Fellow in Hospitality Business.

This suggests that TU students who are not studying medicine or related fields may also find it interesting to investigate subjects of public hygiene that relate to industries that they may  someday become involved with.

The article’s abstract is as follows:

Many people do not wash their hands when the behavior in which they engage would warrant it. Most research of hand washing practices to date has taken place in high-traffic environments such as airports and public attraction venues. These studies have established a persistent shortcoming and a gender difference in hand washing compliance. Using field observations of 3,749 people in a college town environment, the research described in this article replicates and extends earlier work while identifying potential environmental and demographic predictors of hand washing compliance. Additionally, the authors’ research suggests that proper hand washing practices, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are not being practiced. Finally, the authors’ research raises a question as to the accuracy of earlier measurements of “proper” hand washing practices, suggesting that compliance rates are inflated. The results can help increase hand washing rates for the general public and thus decrease the risk of transmitting disease.

In a more general way, many international universities provide information and guidance about hand washing on their websites, from the University of Florida, USA, to Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, USA, to the University of Michigan, USA. 

Any TU student seeking authoritative information on the subject from an international perspective will want to look at the website of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services:

Follow Five Steps to Wash Your Hands the Right Way

Washing your hands is easy, and it’s one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of germs. Clean hands can stop germs from spreading from one person to another and throughout an entire community—from your home and workplace to childcare facilities and hospitals.

Follow these five steps every time:

• Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap.
• Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
• Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.
• Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.
• Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.

Another website, for Cooper University Healthcare, also provides specific details that may give some new ideas even to students who thought they knew how to wash their hands:

How to Wash Your Hands

1. Wet your hands with clean running water.
2. Apply enough soap to cover both hands.
3. Rub your hands palm to palm.
4. Rub your right palm over the back of your left hand with your fingers interlaced. Then repeat this by rubbing your left palm over the back of your right hand.
5. Rub your palms together with your fingers interlaced.
6. Clean the back of your fingers by rubbing them into the opposite hand with your fingers interlocked.
7. Clean all the way around your thumbs by clasping your left thumb with your right palm and repeating the same motion with your right thumb in your left palm.
8. Remember your finger tips! Rub the tips of your left fingers in the palm of your open right hand. Repeat with the tips of your right fingers in the palm of your open left hand.
9. Rinse hands thoroughly under stream of water.
10. Dry hands thoroughly with paper towel to avoid spreading germs back to your hands.
11. Use towel to turn off faucet.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)