How do I prevent infection when caring for someone at home?

Six habits cover most of it: wash your hands before and after every task, change gloves between tasks, clean frequently touched surfaces daily, handle soiled laundry carefully, use a lined lidded bin for waste, and stay away when you are ill.

What are the signs of infection in an older person?

They can be subtle. Sudden confusion, a fall or unusual drowsiness can indicate infection before a temperature appears. If someone seems out of character, speak to a GP.

Which surfaces should I clean most often?

The ones hands touch repeatedly: door handles, light switches, grab rails, bed rails, remote controls, phones, taps, the toilet flush and walking frame handles. A daily wipe of these does more than a weekly deep clean.

Preventing Infection When Caring for Someone at Home | UK Guide

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Handwashing, changing gloves between tasks, cleaning frequently touched surfaces, handling laundry carefully, managing waste properly and staying away when you are ill. Those six habits prevent most household infections. Nothing here requires turning a home into a hospital.

A tidy, well organised space makes good hygiene easier to keep up

Older people are more vulnerable to infection and tend to recover more slowly, and the signs can be subtle. Sudden confusion, a fall or unusual drowsiness can indicate infection in an older person before a temperature appears. If something seems out of character, it is worth speaking to a GP.

1. Hand hygiene

The most effective habit by a wide margin. Soap and water for 20 seconds before and after every care task. Sanitiser when hands look clean and no sink is nearby.

2. Gloves for the right tasks

Wear them for bodily fluids, broken skin and known infections. Change them between tasks. Wearing one pair all day is worse than wearing none, because a used glove carries contamination to everything it touches.

3. Clean what gets touched

Door handles, light switches and grab rails
Bed rails, remote controls and phones
Commode, toilet flush and taps
Walking frame handles and wheelchair armrests

These matter more than floors and worktops, because they are touched by hands many times a day. A daily wipe of the things hands land on does more than a weekly deep clean.

Frequently touched surfaces are the ones worth cleaning daily

4. Laundry

Carry soiled laundry away from your body and do not put it on the floor
Wash soiled items separately from everything else
Use the warmest wash the fabric allows
Wash your hands after loading the machine, before touching anything else
Clean the basket or bin the laundry was carried in

5. Waste

Used gloves, aprons, continence products and dressings go straight into a lined, lidded bin kept close to where care happens. Tie the bag before it is full rather than pressing waste down. If large volumes of continence waste are involved, your local authority may offer a separate collection, which is worth asking about.

6. Stay away when you are ill

The hardest one. If you have a cold, a stomach bug or a temperature, you are a risk to someone whose immune system is already working harder than yours. Arrange cover if you possibly can. For sickness or diarrhoea the usual advice is to stay away until 48 hours after symptoms stop.

You cannot look after someone else if you are unwell yourself. Asking for cover is part of caring well, not a failure of it.

OMS Clinical Team

Where to get support

District nurses can advise on infection prevention for a specific condition, and a GP practice can assess anything that concerns you. Carers UK and Age UK both run advice lines for practical and emotional support, and you can ask your local authority for a carer assessment in your own right.

Our home care essentials selection covers gloves, aprons, hand hygiene and surface wipes in one place.

Frequently asked questions

How do I prevent infection when caring for someone at home?: Six habits cover most of it: wash your hands before and after every task, change gloves between tasks, clean frequently touched surfaces daily, handle soiled laundry carefully, use a lined lidded bin for waste, and stay away when you are ill.
What are the signs of infection in an older person?: They can be subtle. Sudden confusion, a fall or unusual drowsiness can indicate infection before a temperature appears. If someone seems out of character, speak to a GP.
Which surfaces should I clean most often?: The ones hands touch repeatedly: door handles, light switches, grab rails, bed rails, remote controls, phones, taps, the toilet flush and walking frame handles. A daily wipe of these does more than a weekly deep clean.

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Preventing Infection When Caring for Someone at Home

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