1.Effectiveness of School-Based Health Education Intervention
Munguntuul E ; Buyandelger B ; Khulan G ; Enkhjargal Ya ; Odonjil P ; Baigalmaa D ; Tuya S ; Ganchimeg T
Mongolian Journal of Health Sciences 2026;93(3):144-150
Background:
Respiratory and gastrointestinal infectious diseases are the leading causes of morbidity in children. Numerous international studies have demonstrated that handwashing with soap is one of the most effective and cost-efficient methods for preventing these diseases in children. A previous study conducted in Ulaanbaatar found that only 50.1% of general education school students practiced proper handwashing, which is considered insufficient even in areas with relatively adequate facilities. In Mongolia, 56.1% of the 865 schools lack handwashing facilities and soap, and 25% do not meet the WASH standards. Although knowledge about handwashing increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, sustained behavioral change remained limited, highlighting a gap between knowledge and practice and indicating the need for targeted educational interventions. Furthermore, there is limited research comparing the effectiveness of such interventions across different school environments and urban–rural settings, which provides the rationale for this study.
Aim:
To evaluate the effectiveness of a handwashing educational intervention among primary school students and determine differences in knowledge change across four schools in urban and rural areas.
Materials and Methods:
A quasi-experimental study design was used from December 2024 to June 2025. A total of 1,353 students from grades 3–5 in four general education schools (two in Ulaanbaatar and two in rural areas) were included in the study. Preand post-intervention handwashing knowledge scores were analyzed using paired t-tests and one-way ANOVA (α=0.05) with STATA 14.0. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences.
Result:
The mean handwashing knowledge score increased significantly from 9.68 (±2.64) before the intervention to 10.30 (±2.74) after the intervention, with a mean difference of +0.63 (p<0.001). The differences in improvement between schools were also statistically significant (ANOVA: F(3,1335)=5.90, p=0.0005). The highest improvement was observed in urban School A (+1.49), while the lowest was observed in School B (+0.16). Rural schools C and D showed moderate and relatively consistent improvements (+0.51 and +0.70, respectively).
Conclusion
School-based handwashing educational interventions effectively improve knowledge among primary school students. However, environmental factors, such as infrastructure and geographic location, significantly influence the effectiveness of the intervention. Therefore, educational interventions should be implemented alongside infrastructure improvements.
2. Assessment on curriculum of nursing bachelor degree
Odonjil P ; Solongo D ; Odongua N ; Oyuntsetseg S ; Dorjderem CH
Innovation 2014;8(3):50-53
BACKGROUNDThe study was based on the reason that skills, attitude and knowledge of the nurses who are working in healthcare organizations do not satisfy customers and to assess undergraduate nursing curriculum.METHOD306 nurses and specialist are involved. Nursing curriculums of Vermont University of USA, Yonsei University of Korea, National College of Nursing, Japan and Ulaanbaatar University of Mongolia are compared and studied with our curriculum.RESULTStudy shows that curriculum contents of School of Nursing, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences have comparatively less contents of understanding about healthy person, assessment on human, giving advice healthy human, path anatomy, physiology, communication skills.CONCLUSION42% of participants assessed their knowledge at the low level. Curriculum credits of School of Nursing, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences is 142, comparatively much more than other schools shows that the need of innovation to the curriculum of nursing bachelor degree.

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