Authors (including presenting author) :
LAW SF (1), CHEUNG PH (1), CHOU PK (1), LAM HW(1), LAM KK (1), CHEUNG Kathy (1), WONG Angela (2), LAI Yvette (2)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health care Hong Kong East Cluster Hospital Authority, (2) HKEC Infection Control Team
Introduction :
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) result in significant morbidity and mortality. Hand hygiene (HH) remains a cornerstone intervention for preventing HAIs. In fact, monitor the compliance of HH among health workers at outpatient clinics is seldom. Audits of hand hygiene practices and performance feedback have comprised several multifaceted promotion campaigns and are valued as one of the most effective strategies.
Objectives :
- To assess short- and long-term effects of an infection prevention promotion program on healthcare personnel hand hygiene behaviours
- To promote and educate health care workers on hand hygiene
Methodology :
Design:
Time series design.
Setting:
Our study was conducted at Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health care Hong Kong East Cluster Hospital Authority (FM & PHC) and conjoined by Hospital Infection Control Team.
Participants:
Healthcare personnel of FM & PHC Department
Methodology:
A 9-month HH promotion program was started from April to Dec 2018.We had developed a multimodal program that included a multimedia communications campaign, education, leadership engagement, environment modification, team performance measurement, and feedback. Direct observation using modified WHO observational survey form was implemented as audit tool. Healthcare personnel hand hygiene practices were measured in two HH moments (before and after touching patient) by trained observers on July 2018 (pre-program) and Dec 2018(post-program) respectively.
Result & Outcome :
Overall hand hygiene compliance increased by 1.8-fold after full program implementation (P< .001). Hand hygiene compliance increased among all disciplines. Hand hygiene compliance increased from 49.3% initiation to 87.4% in the last 9 months of the study period among nursing providers (P< .001), from 60% to 90% among medical providers (P< .001), and from 31% to 83.9% among supporting staff (P< .001). Conclusion: Implementation of the infection prevention promotion program was associated with a significant and sustained increase in hand hygiene practices among healthcare personnel of various disciplines. HH program reduces preventable HAIs and is cost effective.
