Improving Handwashing in Humanitarian Crises: Methods for Researching Handwashing Practices and Behavior. by Sian White, Research Fellow, Hygiene and Behaviour Change, The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. CAWST Blog, October 11, 2017.
This year CAWST has been working with Action Contre Faim (ACF)and The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to better understand handwashing practices among internally displaced people.
Working together on this project, this partnership brings together our experience and networks in academic health research, humanitarian operational experience in WASH and Mental Health, and development of educational material.
Left: A participant draws two images of himself, making one intentionally messy to symbolise his life falling apart. Right: The research assistant plots milestones on the timeline as the participant narrates her story.
The general objective of the research is to develop deep understandings of the determinants of hand hygiene in emergency settings so as to contribute to the development of rapid and effective intervention tools; the ultimate goal of the research will be to equip emergency responders with the knowledge and tools to intervene rapidly and effectively on hygiene behaviour. The full findings of this research, including practitioner resources, will be available in 2018.
In this blog post, Sian White, the project’s lead researcher, shares four research methods she has been using and what these have revealed so far.
Read the complete blog post.
