Copper focus for Nursing Home

“We hope antimicrobial copper will protect the elderly”

Happiness Showa-no-Mori – a new, 140-bed elderly nursing home in Tokyo, Japan – is fitted with antimicrobial copper grab rails in every patient bathroom and antimicrobial copper bed rails on its 20 short-stay beds to help prevent the spread of infection.

When Dr Takeshi Sasahara – Assistant Professor at the Kitasato University School of Medicine and Japan’s foremost antimicrobial copper researcher – presented the hygienic benefits of solid antimicrobial copper touch surfaces at a seminar for the social welfare organisation Family, staff were so impressed they ordered copper grab rails and bed rails for their new-build facility.

Director Koichiro Sato explains: “We hope antimicrobial copper will protect the elderly here as part of our countermeasures against the spread of infection.”

Copper is a powerful antimicrobial with rapid, broad-spectrum efficacy against bacteria and viruses, including MRSA, E.coli and norovirus. It shares this benefit with a range of copper alloys – including brasses and bronzes – forming a family of materials collectively called ‘antimicrobial copper‘.

Touch surfaces made from solid antimicrobial copper are used by healthcare facilities around the world to reduce the spread of infections such as norovirus and MRSA, supporting key infection control measures such as good hand hygiene and frequent surface cleaning and disinfection.

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