Development of a System to Raise Awareness of Hand Hygiene in Various Environments

The World Health Organization (WHO) asserts the importance of hand antisepsis education to reduce the risks of global epidemics of influenza, norovirus, etc. To promote hand antisepsis, it is essential to motivate individuals to push the pump of antiseptics containers. We have developed systems to enhance such motivation. It is more important to raise awareness about the need for hand antisepsis than putting antiseptic containers in place. We used the AIDA model to analyze the phases up to hand antisepsis action, and designed the system application interface accordingly. Our application embodies the AIDA process in screen design, screen transition, and interface. Attention: Users recognize screen transition and pay attention. Interest: The hand antisepsis procedure is shown in a video. Desire: News flash about infection (nationwide/by region and virus types) blinks on the screen. Action: Users recognize the need for hand antisepsis, and push the container pump. We developed three systems. Systems 1 and 2 use the same application design. In System 1, the data regarding the use of antiseptic containers and the number of users is wirelessly transmitted to the computer for processing. In System 2, the data is transmitted via wired connection to the computer for processing. For evaluation, Systems 1 and 2 were set up at a university cafeteria and a hospital, respectively. In these closed environments, many people recognized the need for hand antisepsis, the number of users who practiced hand antisepsis increased significantly. System 3 (using AR technology) was developed one year after evaluation of Systems 1 and 2. The evaluation revealed that not many users recognized the need for hand antisepsis in open environments (public spaces including city hall and other public facilities), and that the number of users who practiced hand antisepsis did not increase significantly compared with that in closed environments. The difference is considered to be attributed to the fact that, in open environments, many other advertisements are posted and users have different purposes compared with the university cafeteria and hospital.