Inanda Aqila Salva; Intan Kumalasari; Fider Saputra T; Kamsul Kamsul; Sukarjo Sukarjo
Hand Washing with Soap (CTPS) is a hygienic behavior that plays an important role in preventing the spread of infectious diseases, especially in children. However, in reality, this behavior is still not optimally implemented by elementary school students. One approach that can be used to increase awareness and hygienic behavior is through health promotion media that is interesting and appropriate for the child's age, such as comic media. This study aims to determine the influence of comics as a health promotion medium on improving knowledge, attitudes, and actions of CTPS in students at SD Negeri 149 Palembang. This study applied a pre-experimental design with a one group pretest-posttest design approach involving 90 students of class V. Data were collected through questionnaires to measure knowledge and attitudes and observation sheets to assess actions. Data analysis was carried out using the Paired Sample T-Test to determine the differences before and after the intervention. The results showed a significant increase in the three variables, namely the average knowledge score increased from 3.38 to 5.34, attitude from 20.37 to 30.80, and action from 37.22 to 67.21 after being given comic media. Statistical tests showed a p-value of < 0.001 on all variables, which means there was a significant effect after the intervention. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the use of comic media as a health promotion tool has proven to be effective in increasing knowledge, forming positive attitudes, and encouraging better CTPS actions in elementary school students. This study recommends the use of educational and fun visual media as part of health promotion strategies in the school environment.