A review of motivational models for improving hand hygiene among an increasingly diverse food service workforce

Poor hand hygiene is a leading cause for the spread of foodborne illnesses in the foodservice industry. A series of complex motivational interventions must be employed to permanently change the behavior of workers, to increase their compliance and sustain appropriate levels of proper hand hygiene. Unlike the healthcare industry, which uses large, costly multi-modal behavior modification strategies, the foodservice industry must deploy rapid, cost-efficient strategies that take into account a high employee turnover rate and diverse demographics. This paper reviews the current motivational models used in the foodservice industry and examines the habitual nature of complying with good hand hygiene. It also reviews current techniques to increase hand hygiene compliance using clues from three of the five basic senses (sight, hearing, and smell) and two mechanisms (context-bridging and disgust). Lastly, the current model for habit intervention is evaluated, and its possible applications in the foodservice industry with additional reminders are accessed. We believe that this review will provide foodservice managers the background, theoretical basis and practical applications for making long-term changes in their employees on this and similar critical behaviors in foodservice.