Leveraging Social Robots to Promote Hand Hygiene: A Cross-Cultural and Socio-Economic Study of Children in Diverse School Settings

This study explores the impact of socio-economic and cultural factors on handwashing behaviour in schools through a robot-assisted intervention. We evaluated hand hygiene compliance across three schools, one in India and two in the UK, representing different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, using the “WallBo” social robot to guide students (n=77) through proper handwashing techniques. The results revealed that students from lower socio-economic backgrounds demonstrated greater initial learning gains, particularly in the Indian school where the novelty of the robot contributed to heightened engagement. However, these gains were not sustained post-intervention, underscoring the importance of continuous reinforcement strategies in under- resourced settings. In contrast, students from higher-income schools demonstrated more consistent retention, likely due to stronger baseline knowledge and greater familiarity with technology. These findings underscore the importance of contextualising technology-driven interventions using social robots within socio-cultural frameworks to maximise long-term impact. Additionally, this study highlights the potential of social robots as an effective educational tool in diverse school environments, provided that long-term reinforcement strategies are put in place.