Approximately one in five U.S. health facilities don't make alcohol-based hand sanitizer available at every point of care, missing a critical opportunity to prevent health care-associated infections, according to new research from Columbia University School of Nursing and the World Health Organization (WHO) published in the American Journal of Infection Control. The study, which examined compliance with WHO hand hygiene guidelines in the U.S., also found that only about half of the hospitals, ambulatory care, and long-term care facilities had set aside funds in their budgets for hand hygiene training. Eurekalert!
Physicians' stethoscopes more contaminated than palms of their hands
Although healthcare workers' hands are the main source of bacterial transmission in hospitals, physicians' stethoscopes appear to play a role. To explore this question, investigators at the University of Geneva Hospitals assessed the level of bacterial contamination on physicians' hands and stethoscopes following a single physical examination. The study appears in the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Eurekalert!
Health systems in context: a systematic review of the integration of the social determinants of health within health systems frameworks
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To systematically review and analyze various ways that health systems frameworks interact with the social determinants of health (SDH), as well as the implications of these interactions.
METHODS: This was a review of the literature conducted in 2012 using predetermined criteria to search three comprehensive databases (PubMed, the Cochrane Database for Systematic Reviews, and the World Bank E-Library) and grey literature for articles with any consideration of the SDH within health systems frameworks. Snowball sampling and expert opinion were used to include any potentially relevant articles not identified by the initial search. In total, 4 152 documents were found; of these, 27 were included in the analyses.
RESULTS: Five main categories of interaction between health systems and SDH emerged: Bounded, Production, Reciprocal, Joint, and Systems models. At one end were the Bounded and Production models, which conceive the SDH to be outside the health system; at the other end, the Joint and Systems models, which visualize a continuous and dynamic interaction.
CONCLUSIONS: Considering the complex and dynamic interactions among different kinds of organizations involved in and with the health system,the Joint and Systems models seem to best reflect these interactions, and should thereby guide stakeholders in planning for change.
RESULTS: Five main categories of interaction between health systems and SDH emerged: Bounded, Production, Reciprocal, Joint, and Systems models. At one end were the Bounded and Production models, which conceive the SDH to be outside the health system; at the other end, the Joint and Systems models, which visualize a continuous and dynamic interaction.
CONCLUSIONS: Considering the complex and dynamic interactions among different kinds of organizations involved in and with the health system,the Joint and Systems models seem to best reflect these interactions, and should thereby guide stakeholders in planning for change.
Russell E, Johnson B, Larsen H, Novilla ML, Olmen Jv, Swanson RC. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2013 Dec;34(6):461-7. PMID: 24569976
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