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Chapter 1: Performing Proper Hand Hygiene at Residential Care Homes for the Elderly (RCHEs) Session 1

Session 1: Why

 

Host:

Oh, these are pathogens, the microorganisms that cause diseases!

They can be found here…

Here…

And even here.

Though we can’t see them, pathogens are everywhere!

Should we neglect them, it is a good chance for them to infect us, which increases the risk of spreading communicable diseases.

But as long as we keep the environment clean and use one simple method, we can prevent such infection effectively. The method is

Performing Proper Hand Hygiene!

Host:

Welcome to “Performing Proper Hand Hygiene at Residential Care Homes for the Elderly”. This programme will give you a better understanding of hand hygiene, a habit we do every day but hasn’t been thoroughly understood. Knowing this habit better will certainly benefit you and your family.

You may wonder why it is still necessary to learn how to wash our hands. To know more, please pay attention to the following sections:

Host:

Microorganisms are present everywhere. Only a small group of them will cause diseases. They are called pathogens.  Many people have mistaken that pathogens only exist in infected wounds or inside the bodies of patients.

In fact, pathogens can be transmitted via contaminated hands or droplets to the surroundings. Pathogens can temporarily survive at different places, especially those environments and articles we normally come in contact with, such as handrails, handles, bedside rails, and light switches. In fact, toilet is also a hotbed of pathogens. .

Pathogens also exist in healthy bodies, such as skin, nasal cavity or even on our hands.

Pathogens carried by weak residents will have more chance to multiply consistently, spreading from their bodies to their surroundings.

In light of the omnipresence of pathogens in our surroundings and without proper hand hygiene, we may transmit them to others through our hands and cause cross infection.

So performing proper hand hygiene is the easiest and most important way to prevent communicable diseases.