Category Archives: Science around the world

Handwashing Saves Lives, Science around the world

A Pen to Help Wash Kids’ Hands

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Getting kids to wash their hands effectively can be a chore. Even when soap is available, kids will often skip using it and wash with just water. Bar soap can be messy, and liquid soap can be overused and wasted.

 

One thing kids do enjoy doing is drawing on their hands.

 

Combining these two problems has equalled a solution called SoaPen.

 

When a group of Indian industrial designers from Parson’s School of Design in New York decided to find a way to get children into the habit of washing their hands, SoaPen was eventually born. Yogita Agrawal, Amanat Anand, and Shubham Issar got to work when they learned that handwashing can prevent the deaths of as many as 1.5 million children under age 5 each year. The designers’ initial response was to make sure schools had soap, but they soon learned the soap was already in the schools; the kids simply weren’t using it correctly, if at all. Observation of the students also yielded the realization that while they don’t spend time washing their hands, kids do spend time drawing on their hands.

 

SoaPen is a colored marker with ink that turns into soapy lather when mixed with water. Kids draw all over their hands with it and have fun while washing their hands effectively.

 

The invention landed the three women in this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list for healthcare and science, and also led to their winning the 2015 UNICEF Wearables for Good Challenge.

 

Agrawal explains, “The effectiveness of SoaPen in reaching out to children and making handwashing a habit has reinstated our belief that simple, thoughtful changes to even age-old conventions can make rather big impacts.”

 

Brevis also offers many creative ways for children of all ages to have fun while making sure their hands are clean. Glitterbug kits are one example—check them out at this link. For more creative ways to help kids be motivated to wash their hands, visit Brevis.com.

 

Sources:

http://www.interaksyon.com/soapen-this-soap-crayon-can-help-prevent-1-5-million-child-deaths-each-year/

https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30-asia/2017/healthcare-science/#5668e9b11722

http://www.soapen.com/

https://www.brevis.com/

Science around the world

Clean Hands, Clean Slate

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We know the benefits handwashing has when it comes to protecting us from disease. But can cleaning our hands be connected with cleaning our minds?

 

Two researchers from the University of Toronto conducted four experiments and found a connection with cleaning one’s hands and a shift in goal pursuit.

 

Ping Dong, one of the researchers, explains, “People have multiple goals to pursue in their life and sometimes some of the goals may be fruitless. But people often feel it’s hard to give up old goals and pick up new goals so maybe physical cleansing can help people shift their goal pursuits effectively.” In other words, when people have a nagging goal they feel they just can’t let go, the best way to wash their hands of the problem may just be . . . washing their hands.

 

In the study, groups of undergraduate students were primed to bring their attention to particular goals; those groups were divided into two categories, one of which used a hand wipe. Those who used the hand wipe were found to find more importance in any goals primed following the hand cleansing process, as opposed to the goals brought up before the cleansing.

 

The mental process here illustrates that physical cleansing functions in a realm of psychological separation. Simone Schnall of Cambridge University says, “It’s important in the sense that it shows that physical cleansing can serve as a ‘psychological reset button,’ as it were, that operates on a very general level.”

 

The next time you wash your hands, take note of how it changes your frame of mind, and maybe even your to-do list.

 

Sources:

https://www.thestar.com/life/2017/06/20/washing-ones-hands-could-help-shift-goal-pursuit-new-study-finds.html

https://www.pexels.com/photo/adult-background-beach-blue-296282/

Science around the world

Forget germy handshakes. Do the fist-bump!

Humans are big on ritualistic touching. It’s an integral part of cultural exchanges throughout the world.

The traditional hongi greeting of the New Zealand Maori people involves pressing noses and foreheads together. In Botswana they lightly graze palms and fingers. In the U.S. we pat heads, offer high-fives, or connect with a pound hug (a one-armed “man” hug with a back slap). We’ve even been known to pat a bum or two. But the majority of the time, we shake hands.

Turns out, a handshake is FAR MORE LIKELY to spread bacteria. In fact, a handshake is about the grossest G-rated thing you can do with another person!

Scientists at Aberystwyth University in the United Kingdom recently conducted a study that compared how easily bugs migrate via a classic handshake, a high-five, and a knuckle-to-knuckle knock (or a “dap,” as the study calls it). It concluded that fist-bumps transfer 90% fewer germs than a handshake—followed by a “prolonged” fist-bump, then a high-five, and then a prolonged high-five. The handshake was the germiest. Why? It necessitates more flesh-to-flesh contact and lasts longer. Resesarch also showed that a firm grip spreads more than twice the number of bacteria than a “moderate handshake.” So the stronger your grip, the more germs you spread!

“People rarely think about the health implications of shaking hands,” says study lead Dave Whitworth, who was
inspired by increased measures to promote cleanliness in the workplace. “If the general public could be encouraged to fist-bump, there is genuine potential to reduce the spread of infectious disease.”

The study is of particular interest to healthcare providers, whose hands can spread potentially harmful germs to patients—and that can lead to healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs). HAIs are a leading cause of preventable harm and death in the U.S. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that one in 25 hospitalized patients develops an HAI and 75,000 patients with HAIs die during their hospitalization each year. It’s unlikely we’ll see a lot of fist-bumping or high-fiving in hospitals anytime soon, but handshakes must be followed by effective handwashing!

Whether you call lit a dap, a fist-pound, or a fist-bump (our preference), this greeting is now being used by cool people everywhere—including President and Mrs. Obama, who popularized it during the 2008 Presidential campaign—because it’s the safest all of the ritualistic touching ways to exchange pleasantries. And if you think a fist-bump is strictly for the Obamas (or bromances, for that matter), think again: The Journal of the American Medical Association has called for a ban on handshakes in healthcare settings, recommending a fist-bump instead.

It’s germy world out there. So let up on that grip, champ. Grab our poster. Display it proudly. And spread the word (not the germs): Do the fist-bump!

Don’t miss this great video from CBS News, either.