Developing an evidence-based approach to domestic hygiene which protects against infection whilst also addressing sustainability issues

Changes in recent years mean that preventing infection through hygiene in home and everyday life has become increasingly important.  In developing and promoting home and everyday life hygiene, a number of issues which represent a barrier to change need to be addressed and balanced against the need for effective hygiene. These include environmental and toxicity issues, and concerns about antibiotic resistance and whether we have become “too clean”. Education of the public is key, but this can only be achieved if hygiene practice is a based on a simple, plausible, approach to hygiene which health professionals and the public can relate to. This in turn needs to be underpinned by an evidence base which demonstrates to health professionals and other hygiene stakeholders who communicate with the public that the procedures and products which they advise are capable of reducing infection risks to an acceptable level, with sustainable use of resource necessary to deliver hygiene such as water, heat, microbiocides etc.  The purpose of this paper is to outline a multimodal targeted approach to home and everyday life hygiene based on risk management.  This includes a framework for developing effective and sustainable hygiene practices, including hand hygiene, surface hygiene and laundering practices.