Health and Personal Hygiene: Five Key Strategies to Improve Population Outcomes

Personal hygiene is not a one-dimensional issue; it is a public health concern with implications for people's long-term health, well-being, and opportunity. More than 34% of Rhode Islanders are living in personal hygiene insecurity—meaning they do not have access to basic needs items such as soap, shampoo, tampons, and toothpaste.1 Because 38% of Rhode Islanders are documented as being food insecure, personal hygiene insecurity is assumed to be even greater.2 Although hygiene poverty is understudied, the 2026 Rhode Island Life Index showed that when households are asked whether they would put their money toward hygiene products, food, rent, gas, or utilities, the answer is clear: hygiene products lose out.1 Similarly, research suggests that personal care products are viewed as a luxury and that approximately 69% of people in hygiene poverty are forced to choose between “food/bills” and “toiletries.”3 Access to personal care items influences many life outcomes. For example, not having soap or toothpaste can lead to infection and disease, affecting physical health. Not having shampoo or razors can affect the employability of an individual. Lack of resources to obtain these products can further strain family economic mobility. Not having proper feminine hygiene products can lead to embarrassment, poor mental health, and decreased social well-being. Lack of access to deodorant in school can lead to poorer educational outcomes. Being forced to buy the cheapest hygiene products often has an environmental price tag, too. Today's Reality Today, personal hygiene insecurity is an unspoken crisis rooted in shame, lower privilege, and limited resources to address basic needs. Unlike homelessness, which is highly visible, or hunger, which is more widely known, lack of essential personal care items is often hidden through social isolation rather than seeking help. Telling someone you need help is hard enough. Imagine what it feels like to ask for help with getting deodorant to avoid body odor, menstrual products to keep your clothes clean, or even a toothbrush for your child. To make things harder, those who have access to these personal care items are often unaware of this need because buying these products in bulk is an economic norm rooted in privilege of capital and mobility. Unlike food, items such as diapers and menstrual products are taxed as nonessential luxury items in some states. This positions cleanliness as secondary to other basic needs such as nutrition and reinforces stigma. Personal hygiene products themselves are not covered by major government assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—which allows people to purchase bread but not a bar of soap or roll of toilet paper—or Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which even precludes buying diapers and baby wipes. Medicaid and Medicare also do not provide for toothpaste as it is considered strictly a retail product. And although the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding could allow for personal hygiene products through the limited cash assistance it offers, people still tend to prioritize utilities, food, gas, and rent.4 To complicate matters, personal hygiene insecurity is further threatened by Federal changes associated with the passage of House Resolution-1 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act, 2025),5 raising Medicaid costs with copayments, tariffs on some products more expensive to source, and state resource constraints. Strategic Solutions Personal hygiene insecurity is solvable with community voice, economies of scale, cross-sector partnerships, education, and policy change. Public health agencies can begin to address this urgent community need by collaborating with personal hygiene hubs such as Rhode Island's Amenity Aid hygiene hub. Like food banks, hygiene hubs facilitate product sourcing, acquisition, storage, and initial distribution. Five strategies illustrate concrete approaches that any health department can take in to improve personal hygiene security. These strategies can be tailored based on local environments, and strategies are scalable together based on need and capacity. Addressing personal hygiene insecurity is challenging, but it is vital to basic human dignity for everyone. Strategy #1: listen to community voice and honor lived experience Asking the community, both through local partners and residents directly, about their needs for personal care products is essential. Which of the 9 necessities are most sought after? (Fig. 1) What specific product needs exist for specific populations (eg, for babies, specific skin needs or conditions, or different hair types). Perhaps populations who move around need travel kits instead of full-sized products. Or in some situations, unisex products may not be acceptable. Be person-centered and trust that individuals know what they need best.FIGURE 1: The nine essentials.Strategy #2: invest in economies of scale but maintain quality Making an investment in a hub-and-spoke model creates scalability, sustainability, and long-term coordination efficiencies (Fig. 2). Consider the benefits of partnering with individual organizations or a centralized approach like many food or diaper banks. Determine what types of local organizations already have the capacity to serve in a lead hub capacity if a hygiene bank does not already exist. In either model, partners must preserve dignity by avoiding low-quality products and maintain choice by ensuring diverse options for each hygiene necessity.FIGURE 2: Hygiene bank economies of scale.Strategy #3: develop trusted, cross-sector partnerships Cultivating trusted community and corporate partnerships is key. Whether directly providing resources and funds to several organizations or through a centralized hub, a variety of social service partners with trusted client relationships are critical to overcoming isolation and fear and ensuring that community members have the products they need (Fig. 3). Corporate partners are also important and can lead to product donations or critical resources through grants, awards, or sponsorships.FIGURE 3: Critical direct social service partners.Strategy #4: improve multicultural awareness and education Addressing the quiet crisis of personal hygiene insecurity requires branded awareness materials, educational resources, and engagement opportunities. When possible, materials should be informed by local data and need (Fig. 4). At all times, print, audio, and web materials should be translated into multiple languages and reviewed for accessibility. Any qualitative stories should also be deidentified to protect recipients from stigma.FIGURE 4: Hygiene and personal care screening questions.Strategy #5: champion policy changes that disrupt the status quo Creating lasting impact through policy, systems, and environmental changes is necessary to improve population health outcomes. For some organizations, it might start with a simple proclamation to celebrate National Period Poverty Awareness Week in May. For others, it could lead to introducing legislation that changes the retail status of products, developing a pilot within an existing assistance program, or ensuring current laws protect partners from liability-related product donation and distribution. Moving Forward Implementing these strategies yields results. On an annual basis, Amenity Aid distributes, at minimum, 204,000 full-size products and 38,000 travel kits to those in need—which equates to 8750 individuals each year. As of 2026, Amenity Aid has distributed over 1,000,000 personal hygiene products to Rhode Islanders in need over the last 13 years. Reaching this milestone represents more than a number; it reflects 1 million moments of dignity, choice, health, and hope for our neighbors. We can all be part of the change for our communities.