Hygiene in a Globalized & Post-Antibiotic World : A Psychology Perspective

In a globalised and post-antibiotic world, it will be difficult to prevent the spread of infections and pathogens that have historically been largely controllable and treatable. In this scenario, efforts to improve public health will intensify the general trend to move away from sickness treatment to illness prevention and health promotion, as well as increased attention to personal and collective hygiene. This development exposes a potential problem in scholarly literature: much of what we know about influencing what people know about hygiene and why they engage in hygiene behaviour is based on very specific contexts (eg: hospitals and healthcare facilities) and populations (eg: children and healthcare workers). Enter the field of hygiene psychology, which is based on linking the best practices in personal hygiene with relevant personality and contextual factors supported by rigorous and innovative psychological research. We know what people must do to maintain good hygiene, but we must draw from psychology to translate this knowledge into promoting key hygiene behaviours. This book will make these connections by applying psychological principles and research methods to understanding, and affecting, hygiene behaviour change for a number of specific contexts.