Profile

 

I recently submitted my PhD dissertation "Future Systems of Measurement for Hand Hygiene in Healthcare" after 4 years of research at WMG.

The work explores the challenges faced in monitoring, measuring and providing feedback compliance data: the audit process. My research questions the potential of hand hygiene technologies (electronic surveillance) as an aid for this process, insisting that first their "Fitness-For-Purpose" must be evaluated using recognised standards. The application of behavioural theory to understand how different activities may influence whether hand hygiene is executed is explored through pilot work on "Inherent" and "Elective" hand hygiene.

For this work I was particularly interested in:

• what challenges are faced by staff in measuring and performing hand hygiene?
• could any technologies help hand hygiene be performed when necessary, as outlined by the evidence-based WHO 5 Moments?
• what elements of hand hygiene may be more "automatic" than others?

This case study research has been carried out within an NHS acute setting, however application of the WHO “My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene” as a core element allows the potential for future work to build upon this foundation outside the current setting.

Supervision and Collaboration

For the past year I have been working under the Supervision of Professor Christopher James, formerly the Director of the Institute of Digital Health Care (IDH), and now Professor of Biomedical Engineering. He helped guide me through the final stages of writing, reviewing and ultimately submitting my written thesis in December 2013.

My 2nd, 3rd and part of my 4th year were spent under the Supervision of Professor Jeremy Wyatt, formerly the Director of the Institute of Digital Health Care (IDH),and now the Leadership Chair in eHealth Research (Health Informatics) at the Leeds Institute of Health Science, University of Leeds. With Jeremy I developed the core of the research, including the complex in-situ studies and underlying theories.

My first 2 years were spent under the Supervision of Dr Laura Martinez-Solano, with whom I developed the initial stages of the research project. In my 1st Year I was also co-Supervised by Professor Ken Young, who provided structure and insight into the initial stages of developing the Research Question and style of study.

The PhD research is multidisciplinary in nature. It draws on my background of Psychology (BSc), Business (MA) and industrial experience (Manufacturing), and has allowed me to explore my longstanding interest with the field of Healthcare. This combination allowed me to work within the Health stream of research within WMG, firstly on a project sponsored by the WIMRC, and then under the umbrella of the newly established IDH.

My PhD explores the measurement of hand hygiene within healthcare, and involved working closely with healthcare professionals at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW). I have also received information, support and encouragement from the Infection Prevention Society.

Further Information and Contact Details

I write a blog based on the wider field of my PhD research which I try to update at least once a fortnight. I am a regular user of Twitter keeping up to speed about topics including Hand Hygiene, Infection Prevention, Digital Health, the NHS and the involvement of healthcare professionals in research and change via Social Media. My LinkedIn profile can be found here, and I can be contacted directly at C.Dawson@warwick.ac.uk.

 

 

 

 

Carolyn Dawson

C dot Dawson at warwick dot ac dot uk