Behavioural 'nudges' increase the likelihood of healthcare staff washing their hands, study shows

Using ‘nudges’ such as a picture of a man’s intense staring eyes or a clean citrus smell increased the number of healthcare staff and visitors washing their hands in an intensive care unit, a study has found. 

A trial at a teaching hospital in Miami in the United States found that in a control group of 120 visitors to patient rooms, including healthcare workers, only 18 (15%) used a hand sanitizer next to the door before entering.

Hand hygiene is considered essential practice in clinical environments to prevent healthcare-associated infections, according to co-author Ivo Vlaev of Warwick Business School.

But when 124 visitors were exposed to a picture of a pair of eyes above the hand gel dispenser, there was an increase in handwashing of 33%.

For 160 visitors who were exposed to a citrus smell, nearly half (46.9%) cleaned their hands before entering the room.

Professor Vlaev said: ‘Based on these preliminary findings, we believe that further research in this area should be performed in order to better determine whether priming interventions could be a powerful tool in encouraging handwashing to improve infection rates.’ 

The study, also conducted by researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Miami, is published in Health Psychology.

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