The effect of health counseling on handwashing technique in early childhood settings

Background: Preschool children generally fall within the age range of 4 to 6 years old. During this phase, youngsters demonstrate a pronounced inclination towards curiosity, develop a distinctive imagination, and maintain a strong belief in their own abilities. During this period, a notable aspect of psychosocial development is the broadening of the child's social sphere, as they start to desire companions for play and participate in routine activities beyond their home setting. Environment. Children's participation in outdoor activities can increase their vulnerability to diseases because of their inclination towards lethargy, which leads them to view handwashing as a burdensome chore. Hence, it is imperative to integrate the Story Telling Method into handwashing health education in order to foster children's comprehension that handwashing may be a pleasurable activity. Purpose: To determine the effect of health counseling on handwashing technique in early childhood settings. Method: A quantitative quasi-experimental, the random sample technique to choose a group of 32 pre-school children, ranging in age from 4 to 6 years, from Bengkulu City. Univariate statistical tests, specifically a paired t-test to evaluate the impact and an independent t-test to evaluate the efficacy. Results: That the utilization of narrative-based handwashing health education is efficacious in preschool and early childhood environments. Interval of confidence at a 95% level. The handwashing ability before therapy was measured to be 1.00 with a standard deviation of 0.000, while after treatment it increased to 2.30 with a standard deviation of 0.520. The p-value of 0.000 indicates a statistically significant difference in the ability to wash hands before and after obtaining health education utilizing the story-telling method. Conclusion: The utilization of the narrative approach in health education on handwashing can effectively alter children's perceptions, enabling them to evaluate their behaviors based on acquired knowledge.