cover story
cover story
Partners in HAI Prevention : Patient Empowerment Movement Puts the Focus on Collaborative Care
By Kelly M . Pyrek
While most infection prevention and control ( IP & C ) -related efforts target healthcare personnel , there is a new groundswell in the medical community supporting patient education around healthcare-acquired infections ( HAIs ) and the role they can take in advocating for their own health .
As Sharp , et al . ( 2014 ) observe , “ Two deeply intertwined ethical considerations – patient autonomy and patient welfare – motivate the case for empowering patients for HAI prevention . Autonomy refers to persons ’ ability to pursue their own life plan free from controlling , coercive or undue influence from others . Although a basic tenet of bioethics , promoting patient autonomy can seem an abstruse demand in the complex hospital environment . Hospitalized patients are often vulnerable , and vast asymmetries in medical knowledge exist between providers and patients . These conditions jeopardize the chances that patients ’ values and interests will be adequately considered in healthcare decision-making . Actively empowering patients , ensuring them an opportunity to act considering their values and interests supports patient autonomy . Providing patients with information relevant to making important medical decisions is essential to this process .”
The authors add that information about HAIs could empower patients to make day-to-day decisions about medical and nonmedical care , such as personal hygiene , specific procedures and interventions , interactions with care providers , and adherence to recommendations . They note , “ Knowledge about HAI risk , transmission , and methods of prevention could inform and perhaps influence many in this broader set of decisions . An expansive view about the nature and type of decisions patients make motivates a compelling case for the provision of decision-relevant information concerning HAIs .”
Education is essential because some patients often lack awareness of the risk of infections . They often do not realize the actions they can take to prevent potential infection during their hospitalization . Other patients seem to be far more informed and proactive about their care , so healthcare facilities should determine what ’ s right for their patient population . For example , Gudnadottir , et al . ( 2013 ) recruited a sample of 100 adult patients who had HAIs and were placed in contact precautions . Ninety-six percent of patients had heard of multidrug-resistant organisms ( MDROs ). Ninety-eight percent of patients thought that their involvement in learning about MDROs was very important or important . Most of the patients thought that receiving information about MDROs would probably or definitely help them to make choices that would improve their healthcare . Patients expressed interest in more than one form of educational material : 70 percent chose written material , 57 percent verbal information , 53 percent an informational video , and 50 percent Internet-based material . Patients with a higher level of education were more likely to prefer written material . Patients emphasized simple language and incorporation of actual patient stories .
It ’ s important to realize that patients might not have access to the resources they need to engage in hygiene activities . For example , while some patients may be aware that hand hygiene keeps them safe , they may not have easy access to hand hygiene products such as hand wipes , or they might have limited mobility that restricts their use of the handwashing sink in their bathroom . As Loveday , et al . ( 2021 ) observe , “ Key considerations for promoting patient hand hygiene include timing and technique , product design and placement , and education and training for patients , their families and healthcare workers . Furthermore , a different approach to healthcare worker hand hygiene is indicated because the most critical moments for patient hand hygiene will not match the 5 moments recommended for staff ( WHO , 2009 ); mobility and confinement affect the patients ’ ability to perform HH without assistance , and the product formulations that are most appropriate and acceptable for patient hand cleansing are likely to be different to those of staff .”
There are other factors that come into play , including patients ’ own hesitance to champion their own hand-cleansing efforts .
12 • www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com • march 2024