Several Washings a Day Keeps the Disease at Bay

Public Health in the community can be anything that enforces proper practices to ensure the physical well-being of human populations. These practices are meant to minimize preventable disease in order to keep people healthy. Our group chose to focus on hand washing to represent Public Health, as it plays an important role in the prevention and spread of disease. Proper hand washing is often overlooked as an important measure of disease control; however, our hands come across millions of disease-causing bacteria every day. According to the CDC frequent hand washing has the potential to save more lives than any single vaccine. :  Retrieved from:  http://www.cdc.gov/features/handwashing/

We found a sign at the local Panera that reads “WASH HANDS (Laves las manos) For Disease Control.” The sign we chose is a great example of how Public Health uses primary prevention to educate and promote health, and it’s bilingual. We chose Panera because people are increasingly eating out, and using public restrooms. More importantly employees are reminded to wash their hands to further reduce the risk of bacteria transferring to food during preparation. Frequent washing of one’s hands can prevent you from acquiring everything from the common cold to many food borne diseases like e. coli, and the norovirus (the stomach flu). To wash hands properly:  Retrieved from:  http://www.cdc.gov/features/handwashing/  

Wet your hands with clean running water (warm or cold) and apply soap.

Rub your hands together to make lather and scrub them well; be sure to scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.

Continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the "Happy Birthday" song from beginning to end twice.

Rinse your hands well under running water.

Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry.

Group members: Brittany, Dorita, Haley, and Valerie