{"id":131,"date":"2014-11-04T11:42:14","date_gmt":"2014-11-04T16:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/?p=131"},"modified":"2020-01-28T09:57:40","modified_gmt":"2020-01-28T14:57:40","slug":"healthcare-graphics-need-help-hand-hygienes-visibility-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/?p=131","title":{"rendered":"Healthcare Graphics Need Help: Hand Hygiene\u2019s Visibility Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you follow our tweets<\/a> or have been to our sites you\u2019ve probably noticed that we tend to talk about hand hygiene a great deal.  It\u2019s certainly the most common infection control intervention and it gets a great deal of attention as it is quite effective<\/a> when performed consistently.  But that\u2019s the rub \u2013 pun enthusiastically intended.  Consistency is an issue with any infection control measure.<\/p>\n

The main issue isn\u2019t the science \u2013 that\u2019s clear.  It\u2019s art, the art of promotion.  Promotion gets staff performing hygiene regularly and even patients and visitors will do their part.  Most methods of presenting hand hygiene in a hospital environment fall far short<\/a> in this department<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you typically see in hospitals:<\/p>\n

\"il_TCH_02905_BLOG_graphics_C\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1.  The Bare Dispenser<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the standard method for presenting hand hygiene supplies.  As you can notice there is no visual support whatsoever.  They do not invite use from visitors, they do not educate, and they do not attempt to draw attention to themselves.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re just there.  On the wall.  People who know they\u2019re there can use them, but there\u2019s no incentive to do so.  People who don\u2019t probably think they\u2019re for staff use only, if they see them at all.<\/p>\n

2.  The Dispenser-on-a-pole<\/strong><\/p>\n

These were made to be cheap and thus to save on material costs they also tend to be rather small and unassuming.  Because of this they are too discreet to get much attention.  They are often made light and compact for portability, but because of this they tend to be unsteady and easy to topple \u2013 which is why you can only use wasteful battery-operated dispensers with these stands.<\/p>\n

Two things that are the most concerning:  they have little if any room for educational material and can rarely serve more than one person at a time.<\/p>\n

3.  The Advertising Mess<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clarity and focus of message are important.  Advertising fights against this for our attention.  It\u2019s counter-productive.  An attempt to say \u201cclean your hands\u201d comes out \u201cbuy buy buy.\u201d  This is what we call a \u201cmixed message\u201d and it severely muddles the focus of the whole campaign.<\/p>\n

But they\u2019re cheap!  If the old adage of \u201cyou get what you pay for\u201d holds true then these are truly a loss for hand hygiene promotion.<\/p>\n

So, what would we suggest?<\/em><\/p>\n

4. The Hand Sanitizing Station<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

We first suggested this solution way back in 2005 and thankfully there are a number of Canadian hospitals that agree with us.  It\u2019s simple \u2013 it invites use by all types of people (staff, visitor, MD, patient) through a sign that\u2019s above the heads of crowds and clearly reads \u201cStop: Clean Your Hands.\u201d  It has a messaging area that people can read for education while using one of the (up to four) accessible hand rub dispensers.  They are also stable, durable, and part of a larger comprehensive infection control communications system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Finally, its biggest strength is that it has an undivided focus on visibility, formality and inviting use.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just what infection control needs right now \u2013 focus.  Not wishful thinking and mixed messages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you follow our tweets or have been to our sites you\u2019ve probably noticed that we tend to talk about hand hygiene a great deal.  It\u2019s certainly the most common infection control intervention and it gets a great deal of…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcare-graphics-need-help"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=131"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":319,"href":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions\/319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taggcleanhands.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}