What Psychological Theories of Behavior Change Can Teach Us about Improving Hand Hygiene Adherence: Do We Mean What We Say?

摘要

BackgroundHealth care worker (HCW) hand hygiene is effective in reducing healthcare associated infections, yet hand hygiene rates are suboptimal. Psychological theories of behavior change can be used to improve and sustain hand hygiene adherence. While past research has examined HCW explicit attitudes towards hand hygiene (ie., self-reported attitudes), it is unclear if these explicit attitudes are consistent with implicit attitudes (ie., attitudes outside of one’s awareness). Understanding HCW explicit and implicit attitudes is important when designing effective interventions to improve hand hygiene rates. This study examined explicit attitudes towards HCW hand hygiene and compared these to implicit attitudes.