IJSR International Journal of Scientific Research 2277 - 8179 Indian Society for Health and Advanced Research ijsr-8-5-19276 Original Research Paper BARRIER HOUSEKEEPING – SOCIAL & EPIDEMIOLOGICALEXERCISE AT THE GOVERNMENT MEDICAL COLLEGE HOSPITAL Santosh Ramana Dr. Pallavi Dareddy Dr. May 2019 8 5 01 02 ABSTRACT

Health care providers can be a cause of transmission of infections from one patient to another if they ignore proper hygiene practice. Primary source of infection can be related to unhygienic hands. Epidemiology is the branch of study that deals with distribution, determinants and occurrence of a disease. Hospital is the place where the process of healing the sickness takes place as an integrated patient care practice. Doctor and Nurse are the key professionals engaged in curing the sickness. There are other professionals who assist the sick, either directly or indirectly for their health. The concept of social epidemiology best fits for the sanitation employees at the hospital. Sanitation employees directly or indirectly come in contact with the patient. They are for providing assistance to facilitate activities of daily routine and they also are responsible for maintenance of good environment at the hospital. This study is aimed at educating the sanitation employees on the concept of barrier housekeeping – that focus on the personnel hygiene – hand hygiene, usage of personnel protective equipment, proper source segregation and precautions with biomedical waste. This exercise was helpful to raise the knowledge of sanitation employees in the above mentioned key work areas. There is a visible improvement of 50% to 90% rise in awareness in the above core housekeeping areas.