All Listeners Must Wash Hands (broadcast Friday, October 23rd, 2009)

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Mom told you to wash your hands -- but do you? New research published in the American Journal of Public Health gets the dirt on our handwashing behaviors. Researchers observed the behavior of drivers visiting highway service station restrooms, recording entry and soap use, and studied what kinds of signs were most likely to encourage more handwashing.

Women responded best to text messages mentioning germs, while men were most affected by unpleasant messages such as "Soap it off, or eat it later." We'll talk with one of the authors of the paper about their study and what they discovered.

Guests

Val Curtis
Director, The Hygiene Center
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
University of London
London, England, UK

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Segment produced by:Christopher Intagliata

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Support for Science Friday provided in part by the Noyce Foundation
and
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The National Science Foundation