Urinary tract infection prevention: evaluating Scotland's national hydration campaign

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a prevalent healthcare-associated infection in adult acute and long-term care facilities in Scotland. To convey the public health benefits of optimal hydration to support UTI prevention, the Scottish UTI Network, coordinated by Health Protection Scotland, launched a national hydration campaign in 2018. The benefits of hydration were promoted using a range of materials displayed in a variety of settings, including community pharmacies, inpatient hospital wards, care homes and community settings such as GP surgeries and district nursing hubs. The campaign consisted of three stages, of which the first two stages were aimed at adults. The first two stages were evaluated using online surveys, which were completed by a total of 153 respondents. This article puts the hydration campaign in the context of UTI prevention in Scotland, describes the first two stages of the campaign and provides an overview of the evaluation findings, which suggest that the campaign was received positively.