General Hand Hygiene project information

Last updated: 2023-03-21 09:09

Project name

National Hand Hygiene Campagne

Project abbreviation

HH

Project code

HDBP0025

Primary organization that oversees implementation of project

  • Healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance (Sciensano)

Partner organization participating in project

  • European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

Organization that commissioned this project

  • FPS Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment
  • Federal Platform for Hospital Hygiene

Organization providing monetary or material support

  • FPS Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment

Brief project description

The national campaign is aimed at 1) all healthcare workers / healthcare providers / caregivers who have direct contact with patients in hospitals (both acute, rehabilitation and psychiatric hospitals) and 2) hospitalized patients and their families. The campaign normally consists of two main parts:

  • the actual sensitization of health care workers and patients on the basis of the
    campaign material; and
  • the evaluation of the impact of the campaign based on the measurement before (normally) and after the sensitization phase of:
    • the hand hygiene compliance of healthcare workers through direct observation
    • the consumption of hand alcohol and
    • compliance with basic hand hygiene requirements (optional)

The sensitization is multimodal. The sensitization combines a number of strategies:

  • an audit with feedback (normally feedback of the results of the measurement of the compliance pre-campaign)
  • training for healthcare workers
  • promotion of hand alcohol
  • involving the patient
  • sensitization of healthcare providers
  • involvement of managers and management

For the realization of the campaign, the development of the campaign material and the training tools, the "Recommendations on hand hygiene during care" were based on, as in each case, the Superior Health Council (SHC) and the "WHO Guidelines on hand hygiene in health care".

Regulatory framework of this project

Consult the regulatory framework information published on the fair.healthdata.be pages.