Intervention to Improve Hygienic Environments, Hand Washing and Food Hygiene Behaviours in Early Childhood Development Centres and Households in Malawi
Principal Investigator: Kondwani Chidziwisano, RGHI Senior Fellow
Diarrhoea resulting from poor Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) practices has been linked to child under-nutrition globally, including in Malawi.
Food, handwashing and faecal contamination of the household and public playgrounds have been associated with potential transmission of diarrhoea illness. In Malawi, Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDCs) are vital for a child’s social, mental and psychological growth and are run by volunteers. Being an environment that accommodates young children who are prone to numerous communicable diseases, availability of better WASH facilities with good hygiene practices in the ECDCs is essential. However, there is limited application of behaviour-change theories in addressing inadequate hygiene behaviours in the ECDCs where young children spend a significant amount of their day. Regrettably, previous research interventions have mainly focused in primary schools and households.
With the use of the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behaviour (COM–B) model of behaviour change, this research is designing and testing an ECDC-based intervention to improve behaviours (i.e. hygienic environment, hand washing and food hygiene) with an extension to the home environment, as community settings provide effective touch points for engagement to ensure sustainability.
It is anticipated that the novel, simple, scalable and sustainable interventions will improve hygiene behaviours and subsequently inform revision of existing policies and guidelines on ECDC implementation in Malawi and beyond.
