Results The cameras were positioned above the users with a clear view of their hands. For the single camera system background modelling and skin detection were combined to find the hands and arms. The solution was effective but was sensitive to the intensity and colour of light in the workspace. The stereo camera system measured the distances to objects in front of the camera and was combined w...

BACKGROUND Hand hygiene (HH) is the most effective way to prevent health care-associated infections and the spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. The aim of our study was to assess the existing HH resources and current HH practices at 2 hospitals in Athens, Greece. METHODS Observational HH data and an inventory of HH resources were collected from 13 wards including medical/surgical, on...

BACKGROUND Providing alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) at the point of care is a key success factor in enabling health care providers to achieve optimal hand hygiene practices. There are few tools available for health care organizations to assess the number of points of care, estimate the number of hand hygiene indications at each point of care, and estimate the anticipated volume of ABHR required ...

Background: Health care-associated infections are a major patient safety issue worldwide. Hand hygiene (HH) campaigns have started all over the world to increase awareness and decrease HH barriers. The aim of this study was to assess healthcare professionals’ HH-knowledge, HH-barriers as well HH-environmental factors in general and especially in surgical and nonsurgical departments within a ter...

BACKGROUND Alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHR) range in alcohol concentration from 60-95% and are available in a variety of delivery formats, such as rinses, gels, and foams. Recent studies suggest that some ABHR foams dry too slowly, thereby encouraging the use of inadequate volumes. This study investigates the influence of product volume, delivery format, and alcohol concentration on dry-time and ...

Introduction / objectives Hand hygiene is an integral aspect of infection control. The provision of Alcohol Based Hand Rub (ABHR) gel at patient bedsides has made effective hand hygiene (HH) more convenient for Health Care Workers (HCWs) by overcoming two of the main ‘barriers’ to HHtime and distance to sinks, by placing the bottles at the point of patient care. The ABHR bottles, being novel, u...