Hand hygiene is essential for preventing the spread of infections and multi-drug-resistant organisms. The main objective of hand hygiene is to reduce preventable health care-associated infections (HAIs) by improving hand hygiene practice among health care workers. Public Health Ontario has launched a new Hand Hygiene program that builds on the successes of the Just Clean Your Hands Program and provides new updates and strategies to improve hand hygiene practice among health care workers.
This revised program promotes innovative strategies that address persistent challenges individuals face reaching their hand hygiene goals. This program recognizes that sectors and settings have unique needs and that a one-size- fits-all approach is not always appropriate. It encourages thoughtful adaptions, where needed, to align with the needs, context and preferences of each sector. This session will highlight the key elements of the program, including environmental supports, education, team-based problem-solving and habit formation.
Intended Audience:
Infection prevention and control (IPAC) professionals in acute care and long-term care/retirement home sectors, hand hygiene program leads and educators, IPAC program supports (e.g. public health units and IPAC Hub professionals) and other professionals working in hand hygiene/IPAC quality improvement.
By the end of this event, participants will be able to:
- Define the continuing need for hand hygiene improvement.
- Describe the new PHO hand hygiene program, including the incorporated improvement strategies.
- Identify how the new hand hygiene program can be implemented/utilized within their specific setting.
- Discuss how the new program can be used to address persistent hand hygiene challenges.