Hand Hygiene 

Hand hygiene is an effective strategy to prevent spread of infections. Hand hygiene is a required practice for all health care providers. It is also recommended in all national and international infection control guidelines and is a basic expectation of patients and their families. Please review the following guidance documents for hand hygiene that are appropriate for Long-Term Care and Retirement Homes. Can't find a certain resource? Try the General Resources webpage or email us. 

Best Practices for Hand Hygiene in All Health Care Settings

This document outlines the procedures for proper hand hygiene in health care settings across the continuum of care including, but not limited to, pre-hospital care, acute care, complex continuing care, rehabilitation facilities, long-term care, chronic care, home health care and ambulatory care, including physician offices, community health centres and clinics, independent health facilities (IHF) and out-of-hospital premises (OHP).

Just Clean Your Hands – Long-term Care

The Just Clean Your Hands campaign by Public Health Ontario is a comprehensive Hand Hygiene campaign that includes education for health care providers, promotional materials, point of care placement, auditing tools, senior management support information, and resident/family engagement tools.

Public Health Ontario : Hand Hygiene

Public Health Ontario's resource page for hand hygiene includes various resources regarding best practice and education for proper hand hygiene. These resources include hand washing video, hand sanitizing video, information on contact dermatitis, and the provincial "Just Clean Your Hands" campaign information.