Infection Control Activity Ideas

Ideas from www.wechealthunit.org

Pay Stub Messages / Email Attachments

Include infection control tips (e.g. hand washing steps, common cold / flu symptoms) and upcoming events (e.g. flu shot clinics) along with employee pay stubs. At the bottom of company-wide emails, you can include complete hand washing steps with pictures, tips on how to keep your family from getting sick, and ways to keep your immune system strong.

Lunch and Learn

Host a presentation to educate employees on a variety of infection control topics. Doctors or nurses can come in to talk about the flu and the best ways to protect against it (this can be teamed up with a flu shot clinic). Food handlers can talk to employees about safe storage / handling of foods to guard against illness.

Infection Protection Health Fair

Invite organizations to provide handout materials and introduce employees to the issues related to the theme. Health professionals to invite could include food safety educators, Registered Nurses, Registered Dietitians, Certified Asthma Educators, Respirologists, Veterinarians, and internal Health and Safety representatives from your workplace. Organizations could include your local Public Health department, internal food service providers, cleaning product suppliers and community/recreation centres. Feel free to expand on this list to include additional organizations that may have valuable information that fits into the Infection Protection theme.

Flu Shot Clinics

Consider offering an annual flu clinic in your workplace to help prevent the spread of the flu. For more information on organizing an on-site flu clinic visit www.beattheflu.ca. (Please note there is a fee for contracting nursing agencies to administer the vaccination at worksites). Alternatively, consider offering flexible work schedule arrangements to allow employees to access flu immunization clinics that are being offered in the community.

Get Caught Practicing Infection Protection

Practicing a healthy lifestyle including eating balanced meals, being active on a regular basis and managing stress are important ways that we can boost our immune system. This can help to reduce the susceptibility to many infectious diseases. Also important are using proper hand washing and sneezing techniques, and getting an annual flu shot. To encourage the adoption of these behaviours, have members of your Wellness Committee distribute small prizes to employees “caught” practicing one of these healthy behaviours. Each small reward could make the recipient eligible for a larger prize draw at the end of the contest period.

De-Bug Your Office

Organize an office clean up day to give staff the opportunity to clean and disinfect their workstations of potential germs. Also include time to file, organize, and throw out or recycle old papers. Demonstrations for using environmentally safe household cleaning products could also be integrated into the day. This event is a great way for staff to learn practical tips on cleaning both their workstations and homes.

Beat the Bite

Raccoons, skunks, bats, dogs, cats, and mice: furry friends or infected foe? Educate employees about keeping their homes, families, and pets safe from potentially infected small animals that are commonly found in our urban and rural areas. Host an education seminar and invite a local Veterinarian or the Humane Society to deliver a presentation that outlines how to "animal proof" your home or cottage before winter, how to safely and humanely deal with nesting sites, how to recognize the signs of an animal that is infected with a disease, and steps to take if you have been bitten or scratched by a wild animal.

Medicine Cabinet Cleanout

Encourage employees to safely remove expired and unwanted medications from their homes. Set up disposal stations at work on predetermined dates and ask them to return expired and unwanted medications in paper bags that you have supplied. Medications can then be dropped off to local pharmacies that are designated disposal centers. Be sure to let everyone know that you will not be collecting information on any one person’s medication usage. In fact, encourage employees to black out or tear off the labels on the pill containers if they are concerned with confidentiality.

Organizing a medicine cabinet clean out is a great way to dispose of medications in an environmentally friendly fashion, and to protect employees and their families from inadvertently consuming a medication that is no longer appropriate. For more information on how to set up a medicine cabinet cleanup, contact the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit at (519) 258-2146 ext. 3100.

Teach infection control lessons using Glo Germ! The simulation germs illuminate with a UV black light (often included in the varying kits). Teach hand washing, cleaning verification and audits, glove removal, apron removal, environmental cleaning and much more!

Are you experiencing poor hand hygiene or environmental cleaning compliance? Every year, millions of work days (whether in schools, medical organizations, food services and so forth) are missed due to illness and disease. Teaching your employees or students the benefits of prevention can be key for a happy and healthy environment.

OUTFOX Prevention is a company that specializes in teaching the HOW of infection control. OUTFOX has developed a manual that includes Hygiene Lessons, Germ Games, Infection Control Activities, School/Work Exclusion Guidelines, Coloring Sheets, Worksheets and other tools to teach hygiene and infection control effectively. The following lens in an excerpt to that manual (Hygiene Instructional Manual: School Edition).

If you have questions or would like to preview the Medical and Food Safety Editions (Due in 2012), please email info@OUTFOXprevention.com or call (910) OUTFOX-1 [910.688.3691]. Also, see www.OUTFOXprevention.com for related products and services.

Great game for classrooms, preschools, daycares, childcares, homeschool groups and other gatherings of children

Potential Supplies: “Stop and Go Clean Police” Sheet in the back of the game section (has printable and colorable images). However, prizes are recommended to increase game interaction.

One student is selected to be the Clean Police. All other students will be “Bacteria” that are trying to get to the Clean Police first. Line up the Bacteria about 15-20 feet away from the chosen Clean Police. The Clean Police faces away from the group. The Clean Police is to call out “Red Light” or “Green Light” to get the Bacteria eliminated. “Red Light” is stop. “Green Light” is go.

The Clean Police should turn around after calling out “Red Light” and tries to catch the Bacteria still moving. The moving Bacteria are called out and must leave the game. The game is played until a Bacterium “infects” the Clean Police by touching him/her OR the Clean Police is able to eliminate all Bacteria (by calling out “Red Light”). A suggestion to this game is to rename “Red Light” and “Green Light” to “Clean Hands” and “Dirty Hands.”

Manual available on Amazon or www.OUTFOXprevention.com

This lesson is great for classrooms and environmental cleaning exercises!

Content Objective: Students will be able to use effective cleaning techniques and procedures. In addition, the lesson should show how speed and effort are key factors that determine whether a workstation gets clean or not. The creation of a competitive setting should help engage the student base.

Materials:

• Glo Germ Fluorescent Powder/Gel and black light; 2-4 identical desks or workstations of any kind; educational and promotional posters; prizes and awards (which could include pencils, magnets, etc.); stopwatch(es); cleaning supplies for each team; Certificates of Achievement; Cleanest Area Competition Prize Ribbons; etc.

Vocabulary

• Clean
• Antibacterial
• Sanitize (Sanitation)

Building Background Knowledge:

• Ask students the following questions:
• Why is it important to maintain a clean environment?
• How can someone really tell if you cleaned a certain area?
• o Specifically, did you know germs are too small to see?
• What are the benefits of cleaning up your area at school and cleaning up your area at home?

Exploration:

• Show two identical areas or items (one with the invisible fluorescent germs and one without)
• Use the Glo Germ System to illustrate how germs spread and affect us daily.
• o Have students apply the Glo Germ Gel or Powder. Make sure they get it all over their hands (i.e. doorknobs, sinks, pencils, or other designated area)
• o Using the black light, show students how germs lurk on their hands
• o Have them wash their hands and check for the germs again
• o Use the Fluorescent Lotion or Powder for many of the activities and games supplied by OUTFOX in this manual

Explanation:

• Start the lesson with an explanation of the competition. Show an example of two identical items and how one has the invisible germs (to the naked eye). Explain that when you are cleaning you cannot check how effective you are. Hence you need to be thorough and make an effort to clean all areas.
• First, split the class into teams. Disclose the cleaning criteria that they will be judged on. Next, establish the time limit and elect the judges. To start the competition evenly spread Glo Germ powder or lotion on the competing desks, workstations or sinks (best if you do this before class or when the teams are not watching).
• Make sure all teams have identical cleaning supplies. Next, reiterate the rules before they begin so there is no confusion (cleaning criteria, time limit, etc.). Finally, Start the stopwatch!
• Once a team finishes or time runs out, inspect for cleanliness. Turn off the classroom lights and use the black light to inspect for spots or areas that were missed. To award the winning team(s), hold an awards assembly and pass out Certificates of Achievement to all participants. Hand out awards or prizes to the best teams to stimulate positive behavior.

"Hands On Experience:"

• Cleaning Competition
• o Can be as intense and involved as you would like
• o Can be done over one day or many
• o Can be a team or individual competition
• o Can be a whole area, just their desks, or any other area that shares common characteristics

Wrap Up:

• The best way to wrap up is to take all teams (or individuals) around to the cleaned workstations or areas and demonstrate the positive and negatives (while using the black light to show left over "germs")
• The awards ceremony and germ-themed prizes will be great takeaways from the lesson

Home Connection:

• Germ-themed prizes and awards
• Certificates of Achievement
• Encourage the students to hold a competition of their own at home (may have to judge based off of visible dirt and grime unless they have purchased an at-home OUTFOX Kit)

There has always been a running debate between hand washing and hand sanitizers... Does soap and water always trump the alcohol and non alcohol sanitizer rubs on the market? Recently as the CDC and other entities have recognized hand sanitizers more, we've seen an increased number of people that are washing less and sanitizing more.

Germs are everywhere which facilitates people carrying sanitizing gels and sanitizing sprays around with them, but should you be getting to a sink with hot water and soap more often then you currently do? You tell us. We just know that living according to effective infection control principles and maintaining high hygiene standards is important!

Great game variation to a popular activitiy in schools and child groups

Potential Supplies: Button or coin, germBLING System (Glo Germ Fluorescent Powder/Gel and Black Light), prizes, reminders, etc.

One student is chosen to secretly pass on a "germ" to another student and then all students try to guess who has the germ. The "germ" can be a coin or other thin object that can be secretly slipped into the hands of another student. The chosen student begins by clasping the germ into their hands in "praying" form.

He/She goes around to ALL of the other students which have their hands in a like form, splitting each set of hands. The chosen student tries to trick his/her classmates so that they cannot immediately guess who has the germ. This is accomplished by having the chosen student split each classmates' hands identically. After the chosen student has visited each person, the teacher should ask, "Germ, germ, who has the germ?" The students then guess one at a time.

The student who is accused then shows his/her hands. The students continue to guess until they are correct. All students need to keep their hands together the entire time while the class is guessing in order to not give away the infected person. Repeat the play of this game until the students are ready to move on.

Note: The cleanBLING System from OUTFOX Prevention is a perfect addition to this game. Instead of just starting the game with an immediately chosen student, speak with a certain student beforehand and secretly apply the germBLING lotion or powder to their hands. Have the student not mention the lotion or powder. Let the game play out a few rounds and then explain the experiment.

Once the explanation of the addition of the glowing powder/lotion is over, turn off the lights and use a black light to show how far the simulated germs have traveled. Go around to all students and show where the germs have spread on them on them just from the simple game. Explain that real germs travel in the same way. Wash your hands!

Like Musical Chairs but With Colorful Virus Pictures!

Potential Supplies: Construction paper, markers, stereo, scissors, etc.

Have the group members cut out and briefly design a germ with their allotted construction paper. Have the germs placed on the ground in a circle. Have each student stand on their germ to begin. Take one germ away and start the music. The game is played similar to musical chairs with everyone rotating around the circle. When the music stops, the players must find a germ to stand on (any germ- they do not need to return to their germ). The winner is the last player to stomp out the last germ.

A variation of this game may be to make two different types of germs to stand on- one for boys and one for girls. The cards are again laid out in a circle. When you remove cards for each round, you must remove two- one from the girl’s and one from the boy’s. As the music ends, the boys must find their germ and the girl’s their germ. Those that found their germ continue to play. Play as many rounds as necessary until there is one remaining boy and one remaining girl. The boy and girl remaining will be the winners.

Conducting an activity that lets the students/employees take a physical object away is very effective

Potential Supplies: Construction paper, markers, crayons, glitter, paints, scissors, glue, germ pictures or cutouts (see OUTFOX Prevention germ cartoons), yarn, hole punches, and anything else creative to make bookmarks.

This is a good activity to do at the beginning of the year so students can create reminders to maintain good hygiene practices. Let them create a germ or clean focused bookmark (whichever they prefer). Help them get started with germ cutouts or pictures, hand cutouts, etc. Let the students paint, draw, or color their bookmark. Use germ or hand washing phrases or just use pictures if preferred. Laminate the bookmarks. Punch a hole in the top of the bookmark after being laminated so different colored yarn tassels may be added. Have the students show and tell their bookmarks to the class and have them explain why they designed it in such a way.