Dr Sally F Bloomfield, Dr Lisa M Ackerley, International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (www.ifh-homehygiene.com)

Recent IFH studies in UK and Europe show high public awareness of the importance of hygiene and familiarity with hygiene habits, but limited ability to practise them appropriately. There is also significant misunderstanding about the difference between cleanliness (removal of dirt) and hygiene (cleaning combined with other practices to prevent spread of harmful microbes). To address this, IFH has developed a framework for hygiene based on managing infection exposure risks. This approach (Targeted Hygiene) combines handwashing with other actions as necessary to break the chain of infection at moments when there is significant risk.

This report describes a desk-based case:control study with 2,500 participants to investigate whether it is possible to improve comprehension of hygiene coupled with self-reported intention to practice effective targeted hygiene behaviours. An intervention video was developed using accepted principles of behaviour change involving storytelling and animated graphics. Participants who viewed the video showed a cumulative 6-percentage point increase in hygiene comprehension and understanding of the principles of targeting practices at risk moments. They were less likely to identify general cleanliness as an important hygiene habit.

Asked to identify actions to prevent spread of harmful microbes in food handling or infectious illness scenarios, case and control groups were equally likely to identify the correct actions, but both were just as likely to indicate intention to also perform additional hygiene actions where they would have little impact in the given risk scenario.

This suggests the intervention group were unable to turn improved comprehension into reasoned and applied intention to target hygiene at risk moments. Both groups reverted to pre-learned, memorised and untargeted hygiene habits instilled through parental advice, school education and government messaging.