The determinants of handwashing in humanitarian crisis setting during the Covid-19 pandemic

A multi-country analysis

Datos Bibliográficos

ID22945281
AutoresJenny Lamb (0009-0007-6220-9095, Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine , Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT), Astrid Hasund Thorseth (0000-0001-8066-0233, Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine , Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT), Arlene Macdougall (0000-0002-2900-9602, University of London), Amy MacDougall (Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine , Keppel Street, London, WC1E7HT), William Thorsen (British Columbia ,), Siân White (0000-0003-2402-6080, Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine , Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT)
Año2024
Volumen39
Número6
Fecha de publicación2024-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHealth Promotion International (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0957-4824 • E-ISSN: 1460-2245
EditorialOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/heapro/daae117
PMID39697007
OpenAlexW4405562103
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas52

The Wash’Em process was developed to improve the design of handwashing behaviour change programmes during outbreaks and humanitarian crises. It aims to rapidly create evidence-based, contextualized handwashing programmes. Wash’Em was widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic. This multi-country secondary data analysis compares data emerging from Wash’Em during the pandemic, to understand whether commonalities in programming constraints or the determinants of handwashing behaviour existed across countries. Wash’Em datasets (n = 38) were verified prior to inclusion in secondary data analysis; descriptively summarized and then statistical summaries of homogeneity were derived. Wash’Em was implemented as intended during the pandemic, typically taking a small number of humanitarian staff less than a week to complete. Most actors reported using the recommendations suggested by the process but did so within relatively short-term and poorly financed prevention programmes. Homogeneity in the responses to the Wash’Em tools was low indicating that the determinants of handwashing behaviour during the pandemic were predominantly shaped by pre-existing factors rather than the nature of the health threat. Hygiene programmes during outbreaks should avoid ‘copying and pasting’ interventions from one setting to another and instead make time to holistically understand the behavioural determinants in a specific context and develop programme activities that are designed to address these. Particular attention should be given to factors in the physical and social environment that may enable or constrain handwashing behaviour, pre-existing disease vulnerabilities and the secondary and non-health impacts of outbreaks. Wash’Em provides one feasible way of contextualizing handwashing interventions in outbreak or humanitarian settings.

Business · Context (archaeology) · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) · Disease · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Geography · Hand washing · Hygiene · Infectious disease (medical specialty) · Outbreak · Pandemic · Psychological intervention · Child Nutrition and Water Access · COVID-19 epidemiological studies · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology