Motivation to practice, e.g. a sense of disgust, to be modern, to be like others, a better life for children
Published on: 29/06/2011
Motivate new behaviours drawing upon the specific drivers of change, not just health. Move from knowledge to practice.
Powerful drivers for behavioural change are: the feeling of disgust, the need to protect children (nurture), the need to fit in (affiliation), comfort, and the need to attract others (attraction). The fear of disease, or improved health, is not the only or strongest driver for practicing good hygiene behaviours. It is important to take time to understand the local “drivers of change” before designing hygiene promotion programs. Keynote paper 1; Case study 16; Case study 18
Health motivation comes from participatory assessments of good and risky local conditions and practices, through a process of learning from peers, not from top-down education. Outsiders can facilitate learning, not enforce it. Case study 14
Mobilize key leaders and their institutions to support an improved practice and to communicate it through their local groups. The groups can include: religious leaders/Imams, local politicians, village WASH committees, health volunteers, youth groups, children from schools, women’s groups and savings groups, health institutions, vendors/retailers and so on.
Many programs set up new WASH or health committees whose activities include hygiene promotion. These committees require careful selection, good training and continuing support. There is a possible conflict between committees setting their own plans while, at the same time, being told to carry out work decided by others. The sustainability of these committees is an open question. Case study 6; Case study 7; Case study 8
Many case studies have a school component (Case studies 7, 8, 17, 19, 20 to 26) and give many interesting examples of child-centred, participatory learning approaches, including activities that are fun for children to promote hygiene behaviours and children’s leadership.
The success of the school health program depends on enabling factors that include durable toilets, good water supply and, very importantly, strong support from the teachers and education authorities for maintenance of facilities. For school programs to succeed, the facilities must be clean, maintained and soap must be available. Case study 21
