Is it appropriate to encourage patients to remind staff to clean their hands?
The Guidelines recommendation states: “Encourage partnerships between patients, their families and HCWs to promote hand hygiene in health care settings.” However, the current version of the Guidelines suggests the need for further study in this area to explore obstacles and facilitators in more detail. For this reason, a global survey of patients’ views on their involvement in hand hygiene is under way and the results of the survey, together with new evidence from the literature, will shape the final recommendations. Early indications are that across all regions, patients do want to be involved in efforts and initiatives to improve hand hygiene as a means of reducing health care-associated infections. Each country should consider the relevance of patient involvement and empowerment in their efforts to tackle these infections. Information Sheet 4 provides some information on patient involvement and hand hygiene improvement.
