A recent study published in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control found that rates of participation in hand hygiene practices among elderly patients are low.
The study staged a hand hygiene intervention among 20 patients in a geriatric hospital, providing selected patients with an educational brochure and bottle of alcohol-based handrub. Selected patients were given a questionnaire about their willingness to participate in certain aspects of the intervention, as well as their willingness to remind staff to perform hand hygiene.
After one week, about half of participants were using alcohol-based handrub and none were reminding staff about hand hygiene practices.
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