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 offers recent evidence-based strategies that if followed, can contribute to reduced healthcare-associated infections, better HCAHPS scores & longer lifecycle performance.  

This webinar will focus on a case study on the efficient design of one of the largest treatment centers for infectious diseases in the U.S. The University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston’s new six-bed bio-containment critical care unit will serve as a multifunctional patient care space that is equipped to treat patients with the most highly contagious diseases. 

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.  

The following are compiled from research literature, case studies, interviews, and other materials to provide an overview on the topic of infection control.  

Learn about: the interdisciplinary infection control working group created to guide design decisions, the methods used to protect individuals from infection during the construction process, and the design strategies implemented in the new facility to reduce the spread of infections.