The Science of Compliance: What Drives Hand Hygiene Compliance and How Can We Improve it?
It is well-understood that hand hygiene is one of the most effective strategies to prevent the transmission of infection available today, yet hand hygiene practice remains sub-optimal in healthcare. There have been many theories to help understand what motivates humans to act, but according to the World Health Organization, monitoring and feedback on hand hygiene compliance provides information to help drive behavior changes and improve outcomes. There are three commonly used methods to monitor and provide feedback: direct observation, product usage measurement and electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring. This piece explores the theories behind behavior change and the advantages and disadvantages of each monitoring method to help you choose the right hand hygiene compliance monitoring method for your situation.