Abstract: A method to effect behavioral change with regard to good hand hygiene practices is disclosed. The methodology employs staged and stratified tools of education, triggers of awareness, leadership development, personal engagement, feedback, reinforcement, and the provision of outside support matched to stages of individual and cultural change. The program stages through a pre-launch period, a launch period, a concentrated period of culture change, and a process for maintaining the culture thereafter. Each stage involves various tools and various personnel to achieve the desired result of good hand hygiene practices being a way of life, rather than a weak periodic focus that can threaten safety and quality of patient care.