WASHplus Weekly: Focus on Global Handwashing Day 2015

Issue 209 | Oct. 9, 2015 | Focus on Global Handwashing Day 2015

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Global Handwashing Day occurs each year on October 15. It is a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives. This issue contains links to handwashing resources from WASHplus, the Global-Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing, recent studies, reports, and videos.  

RESOURCES

Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing (PPPHW)
This coalition of international stakeholders works explicitly to promote handwashing with soap and recognize hygiene as a pillar of international development and public health. Just a few of the partnership’s resources include the PPPHW website with links to webinars, fact sheets, andmember organizations. Also the Global Handwashing Day Social Media Toolkit features sample messages, blog ideas, and resources to help celebrants and handwashing champions spread the word about Global Handwashing Day.

WASHplus RESOURCES

Small Doable Actions: A Feasible Approach to Behavior Change Learning Brief, 2015. Link
A small doable action is a behavior that, when practiced consistently and correctly, will lead to personal and public health improvement. It is considered feasible by the householder, from HIS/HER point of view, considering the current practice, the available resources, and the particular social context. This brief takes a look at how WASHplus has applied this approach to a range of activities—handwashing, water treatment, improved sanitation, menstrual hygiene management, and food hygiene.

Handwashing and the Science of Habit, 2014. Webinar
This webinar features panelists David Neal, Catalyst Behavioral Sciences; The University of Miami; Jelena Vujcic, Catalyst Behavioral Sciences; The University of Buffalo; Orlando Hernandez, WASHplus, FHI360 and Wendy Wood, The University of Southern California.

Behavioral Determinants of Handwashing with Soap in Senegal and Peru: Emergent Learning

A new Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) Learning Note found that beliefs and ease of access to soap and water were correlated with handwashing with soap behaviors for given proxy measures among mothers and caretakers in Peru and Senegal.

“Behavioral Determinants of Handwashing with Soap Among Mothers and Caretakers: Emergent Learning from Senegal and Peru,” is based on survey data from nearly 3,500 households in Peru and 1,500 households in Senegal. This data was analyzed using FOAM, a conceptual framework developed by WSP to help identify factors that might facilitate or impeded handwashing with soap practices at critical times.

The analysis revealed that the impact of different determinants varies depending on the chosen proxy measure, such as the presence of a handwashing station or its distance from kitchen or latrine facilities. Given this variability, the Learning Note found that program managers must clearly define the exact behavior they seek to improve before choosing which determinant to focus on in their formative research.