The Solution

THE SOLUTION - HANDWASHING WITH SOAP

Handwashing with soap saves lives and protects you from illnesses like Covid-19, diarrhea and the flu. And yet millions of lives are being lost becuase people are not washing hands at critical moments. Though it is a simple practice, hand washing with soap is difficult to promote.

SO WHY AREN'T PEOPLE WASHING THEIR HANDS?

It is not just awareness.

Many of us know that we should eat fewer sweets and exercise daily. And the majority of us don't do this. We have to go from "knowing" to "doing".

It's not just education.

Studies find that health care professionals (those that we consider most educated) often don't wash their hands at key moments.

It's not just infrastructure, wealth or convenience.

In the UK, a study found that less than one thrid of men washed their hands with soap ater using a public toilet with plenty of running water and soap.

Awareness, education and easy to use handwashing infrastructure are all important pieces of the answer, especially in rural areas where these components can be lacking.

BUT CHANGING BEHAVIOR IS DIFFICULT.

SUCCESSFUL HANDWASHING CAMPAIGNS INCLUDE:

An understanding of the target community to best determine their current knowledge, attitudes and practices based on community immersion and observation.
Social marketing surveys, observation and discussion to determine the specific social and physical barriers to handwashing with soap.
Creating tailor made solutions for communities to overcome these barriers.
Focusing on the single message of hand washing with soap rather than a variety of hygiene behavior. Conveying two messages in single communication has been shown to reduce the effectiveness of each by half!
Realizing that non health messages and motivations are important. For example, people often diet to look good rather than for health reasons.
Understanding that program success is measured by improved health outcomes - not infrastructure targets or number of schools visits etc.
Follow up is important. It takes time to establish new habits and support the process to ensure that long term behavior change has occurred.

BOTTOM LINE:

Handwashing with soap is simple and effective, but working to increase this behaviour requires thoughtful, tailored and creative interventions with sustained followup. Tippy taps can be an engaging and useful tool to create long term handwashing behavior change.

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