Val Curtis
Biographic Data
| ID | 1727499 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Val Curtis |
| GIVEN NAMES | Val |
| FAMILY NAME | Curtis |
| SIGNATURE | CURTIS V |
| AFFILIATIONS | London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8994-2878 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 85 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Intervention design in public health
Few case studies exist in the public health or design literatures showing how to create national scale messaging campaigns in low-income countries using design processes. In this paper, we describe how we used Behaviour Centred Design to develop Nyumba ni choo, the Tanzanian National Sanitation Campaign. The process involved multiple iterations of ideation and filtration by professional creatives, government staff, academics and sanitation specia…
How to set up government-led national hygiene communication campaigns to combat Covid-19
While large-scale changes in population behaviour are required to reduce the transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus, the emergency context is not conducive to the sort of careful communications planning that would normally be required to meet such a task. Rapid strategic communications planning in a pandemic by governments is, however, possible and necessary. Steps include setting up a dedicated communications t…
Cluster-randomised trial to test the effect of a behaviour change intervention on toilet use in rural India
The trial was registered on the RIDIE registry ( RIDIE-STUDY-ID-5b8568ac80c30 , 27-8-2018) and retrospectively on clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT04526171 , 30-8-2020)
Harnessing behavioural science in public health campaigns to maintain ‘social distancing’ in response to the Covid-19 pandemic
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), like Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), is an infection arising from a coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in recent times in terms of the global spread of infection and the resultant morbidity, mortality and burden on health systems. In the absence of a vaccine, reducing transmission of the COVID-19 virus requires rapid and extensive behaviour…
Independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene, and improved complementary feeding, on child stunting and anaemia in rural Zimbabwe
BACKGROUND: Child stunting reduces survival and impairs neurodevelopment. We tested the independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF) on stunting and anaemia in in Zimbabwe. METHODS: We did a cluster-randomised, community-based, 2 × 2 factorial trial in two rural districts in Zimbabwe. Clusters were defined as the catchment area of between one and four villag…
Behaviour settings theory applied to domestic water use in Nigeria
Disentangling the effects of a multiple behaviour change intervention for diarrhoea control in Zambia
BACKGROUND: Diarrhoea is a leading cause of child death in Zambia. As elsewhere, the disease burden could be greatly reduced through caregiver uptake of existing prevention and treatment strategies. We recently reported the results of the Komboni Housewives intervention which tested a novel strategy employing motives including affiliation and disgust to improve caregiver practice of four diarrhoea control behaviours: exclusive breastfeeding; hand…
Effect of a behaviour-change intervention on handwashing with soap in India (SuperAmma)
BACKGROUND: Diarrhoea and respiratory infections are the two biggest causes of child death globally. Handwashing with soap could substantially reduce diarrhoea and respiratory infections, but prevalence of adequate handwashing is low. We tested whether a scalable village-level intervention based on emotional drivers of behaviour, rather than knowledge, could improve handwashing behaviour in rural India. METHODS: The study was done in Chittoor dis…
Implementing effective hygiene promotion
The SuperAmma intervention is capable of achieving good reach across men and women of varied social and economic status, is affordable, and has the potential to be effective at scale, provided that sufficient attention is given to ensuring the quality of intervention delivery
The Effect of Handwashing with Water or Soap on Bacterial Contamination of Hands
Handwashing is thought to be effective for the prevention of transmission of diarrhoea pathogens. However it is not conclusive that handwashing with soap is more effective at reducing contamination with bacteria associated with diarrhoea than using water only. In this study 20 volunteers contaminated their hands deliberately by touching door handles and railings in public spaces. They were then allocated at random to (1) handwashing with water, (…
Appendix A
Water, sanitation and hygiene for the prevention of diarrhoea
BACKGROUND: Ever since John Snow's intervention on the Broad St pump, the effect of water quality, hygiene and sanitation in preventing diarrhoea deaths has always been debated. The evidence identified in previous reviews is of variable quality, and mostly relates to morbidity rather than mortality. METHODS: We drew on three systematic reviews, two of them for the Cochrane Collaboration, focussed on the effect of handwashing with soap on diarrhoe…
Planned, motivated and habitual hygiene behaviour
Handwashing with soap (HWWS) may be one of the most cost-effective means of preventing infection in developing countries. However, HWWS is rare in these settings. We reviewed the results of formative research studies from 11 countries so as to understand the planned, motivated and habitual factors involved in HWWS. On average, only 17% of child caretakers HWWS after the toilet. Handwash 'habits' were generally not inculcated at an early age. Key …
Formative research on the feasibility of hygiene interventions for influenza control in UK primary schools
Interventions to increase hand washing in schools have been advocated as a means to reduce the transmission of pandemic influenza and other infections. However, the feasibility and acceptability of effective school-based hygiene interventions is not clear. A pilot study in four primary schools in East London was conducted to establish the current need for enhanced hand hygiene interventions, identify barriers to their implementation and to test t…
Experimental Pretesting of Hand-Washing Interventions in a Natural Setting
Objectives. We pretested interventions derived from different domains of behavior change theory to determine their effectiveness at increasing hand washing with soap in a natural setting. Methods. We installed wireless devices in highway service station restrooms to record entry and soap use. Two text-only messages for each of 7 psychological domains were compared for their effect on soap-use rates. We collected data on nearly 200 000 restroom us…
Hard to handle
While handwashing with soap (HWWS) has been identified as a major pathway to reducing the risk of diarrhoeal diseases, and respiratory infections, rates of HWWS remain low across the globe. The current study, a national survey of Ghanaian mothers, found that as few as 4% of mothers engaged in HWWS after defecation, and only 2% after cleaning a child's bottom. In a multivariate analysis, we explored the determinants of handwashing at these key jun…
Health in our hands, but not in our heads
Each year more than 2 million children die from diarrhoeal diseases; the same number again die from acute respiratory infections. The simple hygiene behaviour of washing hands with soap represents an effective way of preventing the transmission of many of these infections. However, rates of handwashing across the globe are low, presenting a challenge for health promotion programmes. Behaviour change is not easy, and past efforts based upon health…
Dirt, disgust and disease
Hygiene has been studied from multiple perspectives, including that of history. I define hygiene as the set of behaviours that animals, including humans, use to avoid infection. I argue that it has an ancient evolutionary history, and that most animals exhibit such behaviours because they were adaptive. In humans, the avoidance of infectious threats is motivated by the emotion of disgust. Intuition about hygiene, dirt and disease can be found und…
Achieving the 'good life
Effect of washing hands with soap on diarrhoea risk in the community
Hygiene in the home
Dirt and Diarrhoea
Investment in the promotion of better hygiene for the prevention of diarrhoeal diseases and as a component of water and sanitation programmes is increasing. Before designing programmes capable of sustainably modifying hygiene behaviour in large populations, valid answers to a number of basic questions concerning the site and the intended beneficiaries have to be obtained. Such questions include 'what practices favour the transmission of enteric p…
Child defecation behaviour, stool disposal practices, and childhood diarrhoea in Burkina Faso
OBJECTIVE--To investigate the association between where young children defecate, where stools are disposed of, and the presence of human stools on the ground in the compound and the rate of hospital admission with diarrhoea. DESIGN--This was a case-control study with two control groups. SETTING--The study took place in Bobo-Dioulasso, the second city of Burkina Faso in West Africa. PARTICIPANTS--Three groups of children aged 36 months and under, …
Achieving the 'good life
Dirt, disgust and disease
Hygiene has been studied from multiple perspectives, including that of history. I define hygiene as the set of behaviours that animals, including humans, use to avoid infection. I argue that it has an ancient evolutionary history, and that most animals exhibit such behaviours because they were adaptive. In humans, the avoidance of infectious threats is motivated by the emotion of disgust. Intuition about hygiene, dirt and disease can be found und…
Experimental Pretesting of Hand-Washing Interventions in a Natural Setting
Objectives. We pretested interventions derived from different domains of behavior change theory to determine their effectiveness at increasing hand washing with soap in a natural setting. Methods. We installed wireless devices in highway service station restrooms to record entry and soap use. Two text-only messages for each of 7 psychological domains were compared for their effect on soap-use rates. We collected data on nearly 200 000 restroom us…
Health in our hands, but not in our heads
Each year more than 2 million children die from diarrhoeal diseases; the same number again die from acute respiratory infections. The simple hygiene behaviour of washing hands with soap represents an effective way of preventing the transmission of many of these infections. However, rates of handwashing across the globe are low, presenting a challenge for health promotion programmes. Behaviour change is not easy, and past efforts based upon health…
Harnessing behavioural science in public health campaigns to maintain ‘social distancing’ in response to the Covid-19 pandemic
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), like Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), is an infection arising from a coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in recent times in terms of the global spread of infection and the resultant morbidity, mortality and burden on health systems. In the absence of a vaccine, reducing transmission of the COVID-19 virus requires rapid and extensive behaviour…
Dirt and Diarrhoea
Investment in the promotion of better hygiene for the prevention of diarrhoeal diseases and as a component of water and sanitation programmes is increasing. Before designing programmes capable of sustainably modifying hygiene behaviour in large populations, valid answers to a number of basic questions concerning the site and the intended beneficiaries have to be obtained. Such questions include 'what practices favour the transmission of enteric p…
Behaviour settings theory applied to domestic water use in Nigeria
Child defecation behaviour, stool disposal practices, and childhood diarrhoea in Burkina Faso
OBJECTIVE--To investigate the association between where young children defecate, where stools are disposed of, and the presence of human stools on the ground in the compound and the rate of hospital admission with diarrhoea. DESIGN--This was a case-control study with two control groups. SETTING--The study took place in Bobo-Dioulasso, the second city of Burkina Faso in West Africa. PARTICIPANTS--Three groups of children aged 36 months and under, …
Hard to handle
While handwashing with soap (HWWS) has been identified as a major pathway to reducing the risk of diarrhoeal diseases, and respiratory infections, rates of HWWS remain low across the globe. The current study, a national survey of Ghanaian mothers, found that as few as 4% of mothers engaged in HWWS after defecation, and only 2% after cleaning a child's bottom. In a multivariate analysis, we explored the determinants of handwashing at these key jun…
Hygiene in the home
Child defecation behaviour, stool disposal practices, and childhood diarrhoea in Burkina Faso
OBJECTIVE--To investigate the association between where young children defecate, where stools are disposed of, and the presence of human stools on the ground in the compound and the rate of hospital admission with diarrhoea. DESIGN--This was a case-control study with two control groups. SETTING--The study took place in Bobo-Dioulasso, the second city of Burkina Faso in West Africa. PARTICIPANTS--Three groups of children aged 36 months and under, …
Dirt and Diarrhoea
Investment in the promotion of better hygiene for the prevention of diarrhoeal diseases and as a component of water and sanitation programmes is increasing. Before designing programmes capable of sustainably modifying hygiene behaviour in large populations, valid answers to a number of basic questions concerning the site and the intended beneficiaries have to be obtained. Such questions include 'what practices favour the transmission of enteric p…
Effect of washing hands with soap on diarrhoea risk in the community
Hygiene in the home
Achieving the 'good life
Hard to handle
While handwashing with soap (HWWS) has been identified as a major pathway to reducing the risk of diarrhoeal diseases, and respiratory infections, rates of HWWS remain low across the globe. The current study, a national survey of Ghanaian mothers, found that as few as 4% of mothers engaged in HWWS after defecation, and only 2% after cleaning a child's bottom. In a multivariate analysis, we explored the determinants of handwashing at these key jun…
Health in our hands, but not in our heads
Each year more than 2 million children die from diarrhoeal diseases; the same number again die from acute respiratory infections. The simple hygiene behaviour of washing hands with soap represents an effective way of preventing the transmission of many of these infections. However, rates of handwashing across the globe are low, presenting a challenge for health promotion programmes. Behaviour change is not easy, and past efforts based upon health…
Dirt, disgust and disease
Hygiene has been studied from multiple perspectives, including that of history. I define hygiene as the set of behaviours that animals, including humans, use to avoid infection. I argue that it has an ancient evolutionary history, and that most animals exhibit such behaviours because they were adaptive. In humans, the avoidance of infectious threats is motivated by the emotion of disgust. Intuition about hygiene, dirt and disease can be found und…
Planned, motivated and habitual hygiene behaviour
Handwashing with soap (HWWS) may be one of the most cost-effective means of preventing infection in developing countries. However, HWWS is rare in these settings. We reviewed the results of formative research studies from 11 countries so as to understand the planned, motivated and habitual factors involved in HWWS. On average, only 17% of child caretakers HWWS after the toilet. Handwash 'habits' were generally not inculcated at an early age. Key …
Formative research on the feasibility of hygiene interventions for influenza control in UK primary schools
Interventions to increase hand washing in schools have been advocated as a means to reduce the transmission of pandemic influenza and other infections. However, the feasibility and acceptability of effective school-based hygiene interventions is not clear. A pilot study in four primary schools in East London was conducted to establish the current need for enhanced hand hygiene interventions, identify barriers to their implementation and to test t…
Experimental Pretesting of Hand-Washing Interventions in a Natural Setting
Objectives. We pretested interventions derived from different domains of behavior change theory to determine their effectiveness at increasing hand washing with soap in a natural setting. Methods. We installed wireless devices in highway service station restrooms to record entry and soap use. Two text-only messages for each of 7 psychological domains were compared for their effect on soap-use rates. We collected data on nearly 200 000 restroom us…
Water, sanitation and hygiene for the prevention of diarrhoea
BACKGROUND: Ever since John Snow's intervention on the Broad St pump, the effect of water quality, hygiene and sanitation in preventing diarrhoea deaths has always been debated. The evidence identified in previous reviews is of variable quality, and mostly relates to morbidity rather than mortality. METHODS: We drew on three systematic reviews, two of them for the Cochrane Collaboration, focussed on the effect of handwashing with soap on diarrhoe…
The Effect of Handwashing with Water or Soap on Bacterial Contamination of Hands
Handwashing is thought to be effective for the prevention of transmission of diarrhoea pathogens. However it is not conclusive that handwashing with soap is more effective at reducing contamination with bacteria associated with diarrhoea than using water only. In this study 20 volunteers contaminated their hands deliberately by touching door handles and railings in public spaces. They were then allocated at random to (1) handwashing with water, (…
Appendix A
Effect of a behaviour-change intervention on handwashing with soap in India (SuperAmma)
BACKGROUND: Diarrhoea and respiratory infections are the two biggest causes of child death globally. Handwashing with soap could substantially reduce diarrhoea and respiratory infections, but prevalence of adequate handwashing is low. We tested whether a scalable village-level intervention based on emotional drivers of behaviour, rather than knowledge, could improve handwashing behaviour in rural India. METHODS: The study was done in Chittoor dis…
Implementing effective hygiene promotion
The SuperAmma intervention is capable of achieving good reach across men and women of varied social and economic status, is affordable, and has the potential to be effective at scale, provided that sufficient attention is given to ensuring the quality of intervention delivery
Disentangling the effects of a multiple behaviour change intervention for diarrhoea control in Zambia
BACKGROUND: Diarrhoea is a leading cause of child death in Zambia. As elsewhere, the disease burden could be greatly reduced through caregiver uptake of existing prevention and treatment strategies. We recently reported the results of the Komboni Housewives intervention which tested a novel strategy employing motives including affiliation and disgust to improve caregiver practice of four diarrhoea control behaviours: exclusive breastfeeding; hand…
Independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene, and improved complementary feeding, on child stunting and anaemia in rural Zimbabwe
BACKGROUND: Child stunting reduces survival and impairs neurodevelopment. We tested the independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF) on stunting and anaemia in in Zimbabwe. METHODS: We did a cluster-randomised, community-based, 2 × 2 factorial trial in two rural districts in Zimbabwe. Clusters were defined as the catchment area of between one and four villag…
Behaviour settings theory applied to domestic water use in Nigeria
How to set up government-led national hygiene communication campaigns to combat Covid-19
While large-scale changes in population behaviour are required to reduce the transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus, the emergency context is not conducive to the sort of careful communications planning that would normally be required to meet such a task. Rapid strategic communications planning in a pandemic by governments is, however, possible and necessary. Steps include setting up a dedicated communications t…
Cluster-randomised trial to test the effect of a behaviour change intervention on toilet use in rural India
The trial was registered on the RIDIE registry ( RIDIE-STUDY-ID-5b8568ac80c30 , 27-8-2018) and retrospectively on clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT04526171 , 30-8-2020)
Harnessing behavioural science in public health campaigns to maintain ‘social distancing’ in response to the Covid-19 pandemic
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), like Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), is an infection arising from a coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in recent times in terms of the global spread of infection and the resultant morbidity, mortality and burden on health systems. In the absence of a vaccine, reducing transmission of the COVID-19 virus requires rapid and extensive behaviour…
Intervention design in public health
Few case studies exist in the public health or design literatures showing how to create national scale messaging campaigns in low-income countries using design processes. In this paper, we describe how we used Behaviour Centred Design to develop Nyumba ni choo, the Tanzanian National Sanitation Campaign. The process involved multiple iterations of ideation and filtration by professional creatives, government staff, academics and sanitation specia…
Medicine (21 works) · Environmental health (18 works) · Nursing (15 works) · Child Nutrition and Water Access (14 works) · Hygiene (12 works) · Public health (12 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Population (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Hand washing (5 works)