A few months ago I
blogged about a study that explored the biologic plausibility for replacing the handshake with the fist bump from an infection prevention standpoint. Now there's a new opinion piece in JAMA (free full text
here) by pediatricians at UCLA, which raises the issue of whether hospitals should become handshake-free zones. The authors propose alternatives to the handshake, such as the hand wave, the hand over the heart, the bow, and the namaste gesture. I suspect that many will scoff at this recommendation, but I think we need to be open-minded and critically look at
all potential mechanisms of transmission in the healthcare setting. I find it very interesting how high tech solutions to infection transmission seem to be all the rage, even when they're ridiculously expensive and marginally effective, while very simple potential strategies are quickly dismissed.
Photo: ChristaInNewYork
"I find it very interesting how high tech solutions to infection transmission seem to be all the rage, even when they're ridiculously expensive and marginally effective, while very simple potential strategies are quickly dismissed."
ReplyDeleteHigh fives for that statement
Agree completely. Thanks Mike and Eli. What would be the next steps to get this considered/debated?
ReplyDeleteI think this would require a big media campaign with a lot of support from key institutional leaders.
ReplyDelete