2017 / Design For Society / Design for Public Awareness / Professional

Yellowone Handsafe - part of the uniform

• Company
  Yellowone Design, Denmark
• Lead Designer
  Hân Pham
• Design Team
  Hân Pham, Kent Laursen
• Client
  Herlev Hospital
• Project Link
  view
• Other credit
  This Project Was Partly Supported By Trygfonden From Denmark.

Every year poor hand hygiene in hospitals kills 16 million patients around the world – more than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. All studies from the WHO show that good and proper hand hygiene can substantially reduce health care-associated infection rates and even eliminate them altogether. And yet, the hand hygiene compliance among health care staff is only around 40%. There are two main reasons for this problem:

1) Hand hygiene takes time.
2) The staff mobility is high, so they skip hand hygiene when an emergency or unpredictable situation occurs.

¬Yellowone Handsafe (YHS) is designed based on the insights of the in-depth field observation of healthcare staff and their everyday challenges at work, concerning hand hygiene issues.

YHS is a single-use, wearable ”point of care” alcohol-based hand rub dispenser. Healthcare staff has easy access to hand cleaning without having to leave the patient zone. YHS facilitates the right action to take place at the right time and in the most efficient way as recommended by the WHO.

YHS is an ergonomic and timesaving solution. It provides the correct dosages each time. Furthermore, the product takes into account of the aesthetics, signal value, visibility and identity, which naturally can be part of different hospital cultures worldwide.

The health care staffs in Denmark has used YHS for more than a year and it has proven its effect - healthcare staff does wash their hands more frequently and correctly - especially in emergencies and unpredictable situations, when wearing YHS. Furthermore, the visibility and the strong signal value of YHS has become an important ambassador for hand hygiene. The doctors and nurses are feeling proud of having YHS in their pockets.

YHS is also successfully being tested outside hospital settings; in paramedics, catering businesses, nursing homes, home/day care and kindergartens – both in Denmark and abroad.