Hand hygiene.pdf

private industry and the public sector to work together to promote handwashing with nonbranded
soap. The private sector agreed to provide technical and managerial skills; at the
same time, global advocacy ensured that the two campaigns received international visibility,
including the dissemination of materials, through the global press as well as a dedicated web
site. Consumer and market studies helped to understand consumer handwashing behaviour,
target audiences, motivations, available communication channels, and the state of the soap
market. In Kerala, a detailed communication package and strategies were developed and
tested by the soap industry. An interesting outcome of the work was that at least six effective
contacts a month were required to generate new behaviour. These contacts involved
household visits by trained field workers to provide information and encourage handwashing
with soap. “Drip-drip” approaches were not considered effective because a critical mass
that can affect a change in habits is never reached 724 . Creative agencies were commissioned
to sketch out and test advertisements for the radio and television, concepts for posters,
kits for schools and health centres, and support materials for mobilizing country partners.
Data on mass media helped target messages through appropriate communication routes
(television, radio, newspapers and direct contact). In addition to using mass media, direct
communications were necessary, involving visits to households 724 . The Kerala campaign is
awaiting cabinet approval to begin implementation. The Ghana public information work
is on going as a two-year campaign (2003–2005). Its communication material and events
include car stickers, posters, poster stickers, advocacy leaflets, folders, bounty packs for
mothers, billboards, badges, T-shirts, caps, polo shirts, handwashing basins/buckets, bars
of soap, training materials for teachers and school health coordinators, newsletters/quizzes/
prizes, advocacy materials, handwashing “information cards”, mass media launch events
and community events (e.g. drama) 727 (Table V.4.1).
China, Nepal, Peru and Senegal are following or planning public–private partnership
campaigns to promote good hand hygiene practices in vulnerable target groups.
5. THE PUBLIC INFORMATION COMPONENT OF NATIONAL
CAMPAIGNS TO PREVENT HEALTH CARE-ASSOCIATED
INFECTION
In the past year, health authorities in several industrialized countries have mobilized to
use their knowledge, skills and resources to reverse the devastating impact of HCAI through
practising hand hygiene mainly in hospitals.
The recent United Kingdom “cleanyourhands” campaign aims to enlist the acute hospitals
of the NHS to implement a hand hygiene campaign (see also Part IV). Research by the
country’s NPSA in 2002 identified low compliance with hand hygiene as a patient safety
concern contributing to current levels of HCAI. To overcome this, the campaign aimed to
place alcohol-based handrubs near every patient in all acute hospitals by April 2005 and
to provide the hospital with a toolkit and addresses for a multimodal promotion strategy to
improve compliance.
The three-month preparatory stage of the campaign focused on developing information
starter packs for empowering health-care providers and patients alike in hand hygiene practices.
Table V.5.1 lists the information materials developed for this campaign. In addition,
many health trusts embarked on media launches, conferences, activities and a television