[Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/world-hand-hygiene-day-5-may-action-sav... ]
Thank you for raising this topic, Neil.
We continue to highlight the need for hand hygiene at the right times as it is a universal action, understood by all while behaviourally challenging - especially in healthcare where there are many known barriers. However, raising the profile again for World Hand Hygiene Day on and around 5 May, brings people together to acknowledge its importance - in both patient and health worker safety, and as a key indicator of overall quality of care.
Key is action going forward, and everyone can play a part including:
- the fact that WHO still has to call for uninterrupted access to hand hygiene supplies that meet safety and quality standards to support health and care workers, patients and others. International partners, national governments, the public and private sectors, civil society, donors and financers, should accelerate progress on hand hygiene in all settings, using WHO resources, and as part of the Hand Hygiene for All initiative with Unicef, which spans improving hand hygiene in all community settings as part of public health.
- targeted education and training that engages different disciplines (health care), different people
- timely monitoring and meaningful feedback on not just performance, but also reliable resources, if training is working, etc
- advocacy and communications to remind people to do the right thing at the right times (5 Moments for hand hygiene)
- campaigning is one part of this but co-creation of posters, for example, and regularly refreshing of these is an ongoing action - a safety culture in healthcare that values and supports hand hygiene as a life saving action and also a quality indicator. https://www.who.int/teams/integrated-health-services/infection-preventio...
I would love to hear what people think of these necessary actions. Do they think they are happening, are they getting involved, is action having an impact?
In addition to routine improvement efforts there is also the need for targeted research - and research priorities have been outlined. I really encourage people to look at these to inform any studies they might be planning. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7617569/
Again thanks for featuring hand hygiene - looking forward to seeing more comments, and not just around 5 May. Claire.
HIFA profile: Claire Kilpatrick is Director at KS Healthcare Consulting, UK. Professional interests: Patient safety, Human factors, Infection prevention, Antimicrobial resistance, Behaviour change, Global health, Public health, Social media. Clairekilpatrick AT ymail.com