Household Water Security Experiences (HWISE) scale
OUR MISSION: TO DEVELOP A CROSS-CULTURALLY VALIDATED SCALE THAT MEASURES HOUSEHOLD-LEVEL WATER INSECURITY
Water insecurity is widely recognized as a burgeoning global health issue. Unfortunately, the extreme consequences of drought and water scarcity are projected to become more prevalent due to climate change – increasing water salinity, prolonged dry periods, poorer agricultural conditions.
Despite this, the scientific community lacks the tools to meaningfully measure the issue of household water insecurity, a measurement that is necessary to identify high-risk communities for policy planning and program development.
A variety of data and indicators currently exist to capture water insecurity at the macro-level. However, no scales currently capture the unique experiences of water insecure individuals. We hope to fill this gap by developing a cross-culturally validated scale that measures household water insecurity.
This tool will enable scientists, program developers, and community leaders to determine the magnitude of water insecurity, to track its change over time, and to measure the effectiveness of various interventions.