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. 2008 Oct 3;37(1):28–34. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2008.01.014

Table 3.

Religious and cultural aspects of hand hygiene in health care and potential impact and/or solutions

Topic Potential impact and/or solutions
Hand hygiene practices • Both inherent and elective hand hygiene practices are deeply influenced by cultural and religious factors.
• Area for research: potential impact of some religious habits on hand hygiene compliance in health care.



Hand gestures • Consider specific gestures in different cultures to be represented in posters and other promotion material for educational purposes in multimodal hand hygiene campaigns.



The concept of “visibly dirty” hands • Consider different skin color, different perception of dirtiness and variation of climate when educating health care workers on hand hygiene indications.



Prohibition of alcohol use • Consultation with local clergy and wise interpretation of holy texts.
• Focus groups on this topic within education strategies.
• Use of the most appropriate term for alcohol-based hand rubs.
• Careful evaluation of patient involvement.
• Areas for research: quantitative studies on potential toxicity of accidental ingestion and inhalation or skin absorption of alcohol related to alcohol-based hand rubs; elimination of alcohol smell.