Validation of Personal Health Education in Primary Schools During COVID-19 Epidemics

The role and importance of personal health education from childhood in schools and Particulary in the special conditions of disease outbreak is of dual importance. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to validate personal hygiene education in elementary schools in the conditions of COVID-19 outbreak.

The current research was a mixed type of study (quantitative-qualitative). The statistical population included all healthcare workers and primary teachers in the academic year of 2019-2020 in Khomeini Shahr. Sixteen people were selected using the purposeful sampling method and up to the theoretical saturation of the sample size. The data collection tool in the qualitative part was a semi-structured interview and in the quantitative part was a researcher-made questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.97. Qualitative theme analysis, theme network drawing and conceptual model were performed with MAXQDA10 software. In the quantitative part, the coefficient of agreement (CVR) was used for validation.

Thirty-four topics were extracted in three areas: methods of personal health education, subject and content of personal health education, and goals of personal health education. Twelve topics were in the field of effective direct and indirect methods of personal health education in elementary school. Eleven themes were extracted in the field of the topic and content of personal health education, living environment, individual, clothes, body, hands, eyes, hair, mouth and teeth, prevention of diseases and training of physical sports. Out of the 34 topics, 11 topics were related to personal health education goals. Also, validation results of Lavshe's agreement-meter (CVR) confirmed all the main themes above 0.49.

The designed model can be a guide for teachers and healthcare workers of primary schools in providing more effective personal health education to students.