Going Touchless is a High-Tech Solution to Hand Hygiene Compliance

The researchers concluded that while the type of dispensing system influenced hand hygiene behavior, overall compliance remained low and that in order for interventions to have a major effect on hand hygiene, multiple factors must be considered.

Larson et al write, “Although no evidence indicates that devices that must be manually pressed to dispense cleanser increase the risk of transferring microbes, healthcare staff may express concern about the safety of touching dispensers and may prefer dispensers that are more accessible and easier to use than the manual ones are.^14-15 Such concerns may be a deterrent to using manual dispensers.” Larson et al. write further, “Our finding that the number of hand hygiene episodes overall was higher for the touch-free dispenser than for the manual dispenser is consistent with the hypothesis that the delivery system has an effect on behavior and that a touch-free dispenser may be preferred by healthcare professionals.”

Kampf,¹⁶ Girard,¹⁷ Bischoff¹⁸ and Pittet¹⁹ concur that hand hygiene compliance is boosted when convenient, readily accessible dispensers are installed, although Muto et al.²⁰ found that compliance did not improve when alcohol dispensers were placed by every patient’s door in two units. While every hospital’s experience with touchless dispensers will undoubtedly be different, the hope of decreased cross-contamination and improved hand hygiene compliance is usually the biggest reason why healthcare facilities embrace this technology.