User Experience: A Key Driver in Healthcare Skin Care Product Selection

By SC Johnson Professional Healthcare

The “user experience” is essential to consider when selecting skin care products for healthcare professionals. Simply put, if someone doesn’t like a product or it negatively affects their skin, they won’t use it. Providing desirable, user-preferred products can help encourage maximum hand hygiene compliance in healthcare settings to help protect both staff and patients. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hand hygiene is one of the most effective actions to reduce the spread of pathogens and prevent infections, including the COVID-19 virus[1].  In addition, appropriate hand hygiene prevents up to 50 percent of avoidable infections acquired during health care delivery, including those affecting the health workforce[2].

User-Friendly Qualities to Consider 

Infection preventionists have many choices when selecting hand hygiene products for their facilities. A major factor to keep in mind is how products perform with frequent use. Healthcare workers are required to wash and sanitize their hands frequently throughout the day. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that healthcare providers might need to clean their hands as many as 100 times per 12-hour shift, depending on the number of patients and intensity of care[3].  Selecting products with quality ingredients that don’t negatively affect skin health, even with repeated use, can help encourage consistent use.  

Finding a balance between products that are effective, yet user friendly, doesn’t have to be a challenge. Consider professional products with transparent ingredient lists. Many people have personal preferences when it comes to skin care products and ingredient transparency enables users to make an informed choice. Other product qualities that can boost the user experience include moisturizing, non-drying formulas, and products that are perfume and dye-free.

Consider a Foam Format for Sanitizer and Handwash 

SC Johnson Professional’s Research & Development (R&D) team focuses on the unique needs of healthcare personnel when developing product formulas for healthcare settings. Format is an important aspect to consider when selecting sanitizer and handwash because there are many choices including foam, gel and liquid. SC Johnson Professional offers products with foam formats for healthcare because it leaves hands feeling smooth, uses less water, has dose control and typically doesn’t leave a mess on the floor. 

For a user-accepted hand sanitizer option, SC Johnson Professional offers Alcare Plus® Foamed Antiseptic Handrub. This 62 percent alcohol sanitizer and surgical scrub is formulated with rich, thick foam mousse that easily rubs across hands, providing the user with good control of the product to help prevent dripping and splashing that is often associated with using alcohol sanitizers. Its moisturizing formula is also clinically proven to moisturize skin for up to two hours after use.  Perfume and dye-free, it is designed for people who are sensitive to perfumes and dyes and those who prefer products without them.

For a handwash option, consider Kindest Kare® PURE Handwash by SC Johnson Professional. It is a highly effective, routine foaming soap formulated specifically for use in health care settings. With just a single pump, it removes more than 99 percent of dirt and germs. Its excellent foam quality rapidly and easily rubs across hands, providing the user with good control of the product and is pleasant for frequent use to help encourage maximum compliance. Perfume and dye-free, it also contains skin moisturizers to help prevent drying and leaves the skin feeling smooth after use. In addition, it is formulated with a low pH value and is also highly economical as it provides more washes and uses less product compared to lotion soap. 

Don’t Forget the Moisturizer

Sanitizer and handwash are often the main product focus for healthcare skin care, but it’s also important to supply staff with a moisturizer to help maintain optimal skin health. For a moisturizer developed with clinicians in mind, consider SC Johnson Professional’s Stokolan® Light PURE skin conditioning cream. Its non-greasy formula is designed for normal to dry skin to absorb and leave no greasy after-feel. This helps encourage regular use and maintain healthy skin condition. It also contains glycerin, shea butter and allantoin to help moisturize and condition the skin. Compatible with alcohol-based hand sanitizers, it is perfume and dye-free and can be used in hygiene sensitive areas where hand sanitizing procedures are necessary.

Keeping Hands Clean and Healthy

Investing in quality, professional products not only helps encourage maximum hand hygiene compliance, but it also supports employee skin health and wellness. By considering the user experience when selecting skin care products, infection preventionists can provide a pleasant skin care regimen that helps protect both staff and patients.

For more information about SC Johnson Professional products recommended for healthcare settings, visit www.scjp.com/healthcare.  

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