Cindy H. White

The effect of hand hygiene on illness rate among students in university residence halls.

BACKGROUND Several studies have indicated a connection between hand sanitization and infection control in numerous settings such as extended care facilities, schools, and hospitals. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of both a hand-hygiene message campaign and the use of an alcohol gel hand sanitizer in decreasing the incidence of upper-respiratory illness among students living in university residence halls. METHOD This study involved a total of 430 students recruited from 4 residence halls during the fall semester at the University of Colorado at the Boulder campus. Dormitories were paired into control and product groups. In the product groups, alcohol gel hand-sanitizer dispensers were installed in every room, bathroom, and dining hall. The data were statistically analyzed for the differences between product and control groups in reported symptoms, illness rates, and absenteeism from classes. RESULTS The overall increase in hand-hygiene behavior and reduction in symptoms, illness rates, and absenteeism between the product group and control group was statistically significant. Reductions in upper respiratory-illness symptoms ranged from 14.8% to 39.9%. Total improvement in illness rate was 20%. The product group had 43% less missed school/work days. CONCLUSION Hand-hygiene practices were improved with increased frequency of handwashing through increasing awareness of the importance of hand hygiene, and the use of alcohol gel hand sanitizer in university dormitories. This resulted in fewer upper respiratory-illness symptoms, lower illness rates, and lower absenteeism.

The Role of Conversational Involvement in Deceptive Interpersonal Interactions

Interpersonal Deception Theory (IDT) postulates that interactive deception differs from noninteractive deception due to combined influences of deceiver goals and social skills, mutual influence processes between sender and receiver, feedback, and interaction dynamics. An experiment tested hypotheses that (a) interactive deception displays differ from truthful ones only at the outset of interaction and approximate truthful displays over time, (b) displays are moderated by deceiver social skills, (c) deceivers adapt to receiver communication with reciprocal or compensatory displays, (d) low involvement by receivers conveys negative feedback that instigates more behavioral adjustments by deceivers than does high involvement, and (e) receivers’ postinteraction judgments of deceivers are directly related to deceiver behavioral displays. An experiment in which senders alternated between telling the truth and deceiving, and partners varied their own level of involvement, produced supportive results that have implications for the stability of, and causal mechanisms underlying, deception displays and interpersonal communication generally.

The Impact of a Health Campaign on Hand Hygiene and Upper Respiratory Illness Among College Students Living in Residence Halls

Hand hygiene is a key element in preventing the transmission of cold and flu viruses. The authors conducted an experimental-control design study in 4 campus residence halls to determine whether a message campaign about hand hygiene and the availability of gel hand sanitizer could decrease cold and flu illness and school and work absenteeism. Their findings indicate that students who were exposed to the message campaign and provided with gel hand sanitizer increased their knowledge about the potential health benefits of hand washing and sanitizer use; they reported higher rates of hand washing and using sanitizer than did the control group. These students also experienced fewer cold and flu illnesses during the study than those in the control group and missed fewer class or work engagements because of colds or flu. Conducting a health promotion campaign in residence halls may therefore help prevent colds and flu and decrease absenteeism on university campuses.

The nature of facework in discussion of everyday problems between friends

This study examined how facework is managed in social support interactions between friends and how facework affects satisfaction of both support seekers and support providers. The study extends previous research on social support by examining solidarity, approbation, and tact as aspects of positive and negative face and by examining actual interactions between friends about a problem support seekers are having. We found that support seekers were most satisfied when support providers minimized the imposition of their advice/suggestion and showed an explicit appreciation for the support seekers problem. Support providers felt most satisfied when support seekers asked directly for help and showed admiration for the providers ability to help solve the problem. A positive relationship was found between support seekers’ and support providers’ expressions of approbation and solidarity. Controllability and importance of the problem did not emerge as significant factors in determining any facework strategies of support seekers or providers. Additionally, the closeness of the relationship between friends and the empathic skill of each did not predict types of facework used by participants.

Negotiating Relational Boundaries in Adult-Adolescent Mentoring Relationships

This study explored communication processes between adult mentors and adolescent mentees as they negotiate their roles and enact a mentoring partnership. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with mentoring pairs (10 adolescents, 10 adults) in a community mentoring program. Findings indicated two key communication issues in these relationships: defining relational boundaries, and negotiating tension around freedom and control within the partnership. The study revealed that defining the relationship and establishing boundaries must occur not only within the mentoring dyad but also with the familial network of the mentees. Additionally, an important, ongoing tension in these relationships involved freedom and control as partners managed the intergenerational nature of the relationship, which made them “friends” but not equals. These findings indicate that in order to understand communication within adolescent mentoring relationships we need to consider the unique intergenerational nature of this relationship and the influence of familial relationships on interaction between mentors and mentees.

Welsh widows’ descriptions of their relationships: Themes of relational experience in long‐term marriage

One particularly productive approach for studying relational processes is to consider how participants in relationships make sense of their relational experience. This study examined widows’ accounts of their long‐lasting marriages (25 years or more) in order to better understand the perspective of individuals who have been partners in a long‐term marriage. Three themes emerged that help to capture the experience of these women in their marriages: the imperfection of relationships, the strength of the marital dyad, and obligation as an indicator of caring. Each of these themes revealed how the relationship was impacted by social norms and provided an implicit solution to problems that are an “inherent” part of long‐term marriage. The results of this study demonstrate the ways long‐term relationships are influenced by social norms for marriage and by the historical context in which marriage is understood.