Ciaran Patrick Doyle

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Country: Ireland
Background:
Research Project: Formative and Baseline Research on Handwashing with Soap, A Case study in Rural Sundarbans West Bengal, India

BACKGROUND: HWWS particularly after contact with feces can have a significant impact on public health in any country by drastically reducing the two leading causes of childhood mortality - diarrhoeal diseases and acute respiratory tract infections. If developing countries are to achieve their millennium development targets regarding child mortality reduction by 2015; “the habit of HWWS must become universal”. The main objective of this research is to provide the insights required to devise effective intervention recommendations to promote HWWS which are culturally specific and sensitive to the local norms of Purkaitgheri, West Bengal, India, thus potentially reducing any further diarrhoeal diseases related to not HWWS.

METHOD: The study is based on the mixed methodological principles of hygiene promotion. Hygiene promotion is a deliberate methodical approach to preventing diarrhoea which utilises a systematic approach to quantitative and qualitative data collection called formative research. This research focuses on mothers with children <5, Primary Target Audience (PTA).

RESULTS: There are many challenges facing the inhabitants of Purkaitgheri. They live below both the international poverty line and the Indian rural poverty threshold. However soap is available in the majority of houses and water is never scarce. Despite high rates of illiteracy and below Indian average primary school completion rates, the PTA has a good knowledge of the consequences of not HWWS and both the health and non-health benefits of HWWS, yet a number of the perceived barriers and misconceptions are working simultaneously to prevent behaviour change.

CONCLUSION: Using the health belief model supplemented by information collected on the structural determinants of handwashing, recommendations for a hygiene promotion intervention specific to Purkaitgheri, using hygiene education, social marketing and participation have been suggested to help the PTA overcome these barriers. These recommendations, some very basic for e.g. designating a HWWS area, if implemented correctly will potentially engender behaviour change to HWWS.
Keywords: diarrhoea, Handwashing, hygiene promotion, formative research.