TY - JOUR KW - Health education and awareness KW - Schistosomiasis KW - Teachers KW - Preventive Medicine KW - psychological attitude KW - Children KW - Schools AU - Zhang J AU - Lin D AU - Hu F AU - Li D AU - Chen J AU - Xie H AU - Li Y AU - Ding S AU - Wang W AB - Schistosomiasis remains a critical public health challenge in endemic regions, particularly among school-aged children. Despite global efforts, conventional health education approaches show limited success in translating knowledge into sustained practices change. This study evaluates the efficacy of two innovative educational approaches—curriculum-integrated infiltration and stepwise progressive approaches—compared to traditional methods in enhancing schistosomiasis-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among students. A school-based intervention was conducted in Duchang County’s Zhouxi township, with is an area afferted by schistosomiasis in China. Sixth-grade students (n ≈ 300) were divided into three groups: a traditional intervention group receiving standard WHO-aligned lectures, an infiltration group with cross-disciplinary curriculum integration, and a stepwise group with modular, tiered content. KAP outcomes were assessed via validated questionnaires at baseline and post-intervention. Both intervention groups demonstrated significant knowledge gains compared to traditional intervention (post-intervention accuracy: infiltration 89.67%, stepwise 91.10%, traditional intervention 86.50%; P < 0.001). Practices knowledge showed the most significant improvement (41.47% increase in the infiltration group vs. 22.38% in traditional intervention). The stepwise approaches achieved the highest overall accuracy (91.10%) but showed no statistically significant advantage over the infiltration approach (P > 0.05). Attitudinal improvements were consistent across groups, with high baseline rates limiting further gains (post-intervention: 95.60–96.68%). Curriculum-integrated and stepwise approaches effectively address the knowledge-practices gap in schistosomiasis education. The infiltration strategy, requiring minimal resources, is ideal for practices reinforcement in low-resource settings, while the stepwise approach suits rapid knowledge dissemination in well-resourced areas. These findings advocate for context-adaptive, multisectoral frameworks to optimize school-based interventions, aligning with WHO goals for neglected tropical disease elimination. BT - PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases DO - 10.1371/journal.pntd.0013388 IS - 8 LA - ENG M3 - Article N2 - Schistosomiasis remains a critical public health challenge in endemic regions, particularly among school-aged children. Despite global efforts, conventional health education approaches show limited success in translating knowledge into sustained practices change. This study evaluates the efficacy of two innovative educational approaches—curriculum-integrated infiltration and stepwise progressive approaches—compared to traditional methods in enhancing schistosomiasis-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among students. A school-based intervention was conducted in Duchang County’s Zhouxi township, with is an area afferted by schistosomiasis in China. Sixth-grade students (n ≈ 300) were divided into three groups: a traditional intervention group receiving standard WHO-aligned lectures, an infiltration group with cross-disciplinary curriculum integration, and a stepwise group with modular, tiered content. KAP outcomes were assessed via validated questionnaires at baseline and post-intervention. Both intervention groups demonstrated significant knowledge gains compared to traditional intervention (post-intervention accuracy: infiltration 89.67%, stepwise 91.10%, traditional intervention 86.50%; P < 0.001). Practices knowledge showed the most significant improvement (41.47% increase in the infiltration group vs. 22.38% in traditional intervention). The stepwise approaches achieved the highest overall accuracy (91.10%) but showed no statistically significant advantage over the infiltration approach (P > 0.05). Attitudinal improvements were consistent across groups, with high baseline rates limiting further gains (post-intervention: 95.60–96.68%). Curriculum-integrated and stepwise approaches effectively address the knowledge-practices gap in schistosomiasis education. The infiltration strategy, requiring minimal resources, is ideal for practices reinforcement in low-resource settings, while the stepwise approach suits rapid knowledge dissemination in well-resourced areas. These findings advocate for context-adaptive, multisectoral frameworks to optimize school-based interventions, aligning with WHO goals for neglected tropical disease elimination. PB - Public Library of Science (PLoS) PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 11 T2 - PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases TI - Research on health education and health promotion during the process of schistosomiasis elimination III new approaches for student health education UR - https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0013388&type=printable VL - 19 SN - 1935-2735 ER -