In 2013, Essity discovered that 82% of American parents with children aged 2-6 believed that better hand hygiene at their child’s pre-school, elementary school or day-care could reduce the occurrence of family sick days. Five years later, we are still committed to creating hand washing awareness throughout America, one student at a time
On Friday, March 24, 2017, Diane Engler of Essity and her PR team visited Valley Forge Elementary School in Wayne, PA, to stop the spread of germs amongst four first grade classes. Engler taught the children healthy hand washing habits by reviewing some helpful strategies and engaging them in hand washing activities.
One of the activities that the students participated in was Essity’s Handwashing Challenge, an interactive hand washing experiment that teaches children that thorough hand washing really can make a difference. Students rubbed a lotion (to represent dirt) on their hands, then placed their hands under a black light to reveal all of their ‘germs.’ They then washed and dried their hands then placed their hands back under the light to reveal whether all of the ‘germs’ had been removed. With this experiment a majority of the first graders discovered that they need to improve their hand washing skills and immediately went back to the sink to adjust their approach.
The first graders also interacted with Essity’s tablet app, “Ella’s Hand Washing Adventure,’’ which combines play and education to teach young children why, when and how to wash their hands in four simple steps.
Approximately 74 students participated in the program and received certificates of achievement for completing the lesson.Essity looks forward to continuing to promote healthy hygiene practices.
About the survey
The survey was executed by Ipsos Public Affairs on commission by SCA (currently Essity) from October 1-9, 2013. The sample consisted of 585 US parents of a child ages 2-6. Data was collected through online panels with invites distributed through e-mail.