Development and Evaluation of a Social Cognitive Theory- Based Standard Precautions Education Program for Care Workers in Long-Term Care Facilities: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Background Standard precautions represent the first line of defense in preventing healthcare-associated infections. In long-term care facilities, care workers’ adherence to standard precautions practices is critical for effective infection prevention and control. Therefore, developing a tailored standard precautions education program that addresses the specific learning needs of care workers in these settings is increasingly needed. Methods This study employed a nonequivalent control group, with a non-synchronized quasi-experimental design. Data were collected from June 1 to August 31, 2023. The final analysis included 46 care workers employed at long-term care facilities with more than 30 residents in South Korea. The experimental group received a standard precautions education program developed on the basis of the ADDIE (which stands for analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) model and Bandura’s social cognitive theory. The program was delivered via a flipped classroom instructional strategy across three phases: pre- (online theoretical content), face-to-face (hands-on practice), and post- (assignment-based activities) learning. The intervention was conducted once a week for four consecutive weeks, with each session lasting 60 minutes. No intervention was provided to the control group. To evaluate the effectiveness of the program, analysis of covariance was used to compare differences between groups, whereas repeated measures analysis of variance, the Friedman test, and Bonferroni correction were used to assess changes over time. Results Following the intervention, the experimental group exhibited significantly greater improvements than did the control group in attitudes (F = 11.42, p  = .002), self-efficacy (F = 5.56, p  = .023), and compliance (F = 8.02, p  = .007) related to standard precautions. Additionally, significant improvements over time were observed in knowledge ( χ ² = 11.85, p  = .003), attitudes (F = 4.72, p  = .014), self-efficacy (F = 9.14, p  < .001), and compliance (F = 20.00, p  < .001) related to standard precautions. Conclusion This study suggests that a systematically developed standard precautions education program, which is based on social cognitive theory and implemented via a flipped classroom approach, can increase compliance with standard precautions among care workers in long-term care facilities, thereby contributing to the prevention of healthcare-associated infections. Clinical trial number: Not applicable.