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Surveying factors that influence healthcare personnel in the transition to reusable surgical gowns

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

Charlotte Harding ,
Ingrid Moons ,
Regan Watts ,
Gunter De Win  and
Els Du Bois
Charlotte Harding*
Affiliation:
University of Antwerp, Belgium
Ingrid Moons
Affiliation:
University of Antwerp, Belgium
Regan Watts
Affiliation:
University of Antwerp, Belgium
Gunter De Win
Affiliation:
University of Antwerp, Belgium
Els Du Bois
Affiliation:
University of Antwerp, Belgium
*
[email protected]

Abstract

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This study surveyed 190 healthcare professionals to examine attitudes towards reusable surgical gowns, aiming to reduce medical waste. Comfort (scoring 5.32 out of 7) and misconceptions about gowns serving as personal protective equipment (87% hold this belief) are crucial influencers. External motivators, trust, emotions, and workload also impact perceptions. The study recommends enhancing reusable gown design for comfort, multifunctionality, and hygiene trust. It calls for communication strategies to normalise reusables in healthcare and urges a transition to sustainable practices.

Keywords

reusesustainabilitycircular economyhealthcare designproduct development
Type
Design for Healthcare
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 4: DESIGN 2024 , May 2024 , pp. 1587 - 1596
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2024.

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