Health Business

A businessman who came close to death through poor hand hygiene is now vowing to educate on the importance of hand washing through a cartoon character called MAX.
    
Ashley Brooks, 40 from Hadleigh, Essex, along with colleague Tony Gerreli, 36 from Rochford Essex, have devised The Max Guide to Hand Hygiene package. It comprises of a cartoon character called Max and was developed to capture the attention of both children and adults to help them understand and remind them of the importance of keeping hands clean, plus the correct technique to ensure no areas are missed.
    
Hygiene within medical environments is close to Ashley’s heart. In 2002, aged just 35 Ashley was receiving treatment for leukaemia when he caught a very serious blood infection, contracted through a nurse who, after dealing with another patient, came straight to Ashley and cleaned his Hickman line without wearing the obligatory gloves or cleaning her hands first.
    
The Max Guide to Hand Hygiene was developed in conjunction with Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The programme comes in the form of an animation which is available as a screensaver, PC ROM or DVD and can also come with narrative. Posters, badges and stickers also accompany the cartoon which can be displayed in areas like kitchens and bathrooms. There is even a children’s story book to emphasise the message to young ones.
   
Ashley says, “Tony and I feel very passionately about this issue and this is what drives us. Max isn’t only aimed at healthcare professionals; we want to empower the public to ask about hand washing when in a vulnerable situation like I was. We already know from clients’ feedback that the hand washing habits of people does change after Max has been introduced in their school or workplace.”
   
The initiative has already been trialled in schools and medical establishments across the UK, such as Basildon Hospital in Essex and various Primary Care Trusts, dental surgeries and GP Practices. Although there are costs for the Max Guide to Hand Hygiene package, this is a not-for-profit scheme.
   
Ashley and Tony are now looking into the possibility of expanding Max into other areas like dental hygiene, diet and nutrition and exercise. There is also a project being developed called Ask Max, giving children the chance to ask questions about their health on-line without being embarrassed.

For more information on Max 4 Health, please call 01268 273 403 or visit www.handswashing.co.uk