Insights & Solutions

Evidence based on primary research and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI), and The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), among others, can help guide critical infection prevention decisions in a range of healthcare settings. The following strategies, gathered through a review of the literature, should be considered throughout the material selection and specification stages.

This tool provides an overview of cleaning mechanisms (i.e., processes and/or technologies) and material characteristics, which in turn may influence materials selection and specification.

This tool details each stakeholder’s role and responsibilities. Use this tool as a guide when building your own infection prevention team to ensure a common understanding of each team member’s contributions.

As part of the infection control toolbox, in this issue brief you will learn about, high-touch and soft surfaces and their effect on antimicrobial behavior, different cleaning mechanisms and their impact on surfaces, and an approach for structuring infection prevention teams during the design process. 

As part of the infection control toolbox, in this issue brief you will learn about, the role of surfaces in the chain of transmission and the epidemiology of infections, environmental conditions that affect the growth and transmission of pathogens, and cleaning and disinfecting strategies.

This webinar introduces the new, easier to use, online interface for The Center’s Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) toolkit, a proactive and systematic approach to designing and renovating healthcare facilities for safety. Originally developed through research and consensus to support the requirements of the FGI Guidelines, The Center's research team will walk you through the why, what, and how of each part of the online SRA toolkit illustrating features with vignettes gathered from the testing process.  

Learn about: the importance of hand hygiene in improving safety, quality, and economic impact, a systems approach to hand hygiene that integrates environmental, operational, and personal factors for infection prevention, and new, effective, and easy-to-implement hand hygiene measures.

Learn about: the three main ways pathogens are spread in a healthcare facility, why infection control specialists and designers need to work as a team for best results and ​why more research is needed to determine the impact of specific design features on infection control.

 

Learn about: the relationship between visible cleanliness and the risk of contracting a serious infection in the healthcare setting, the spread of pathogens in healthcare settings and the risk of infection in U.S. healthcare settings compared with other countries. 

Learn about: strategies that disrupt pathogen transmission, the numerous reasons that sink location is important and why post-occupancy evaluations by the design/architecture community are necessary.