Volume 81, Issue 1, January–February 2015, Pages 107–108
Consortium of Universities for Global Health: Poster Abstracts from the 6th Annual CUGH Conference
Consortium of Universities for Global Health: Mobilizing Resesarch for Global Health
Open Access
Sesame street in the tea estates: A multi-media intervention to improve sanitation and hygiene among Bangladesh's most vulnerable youth
- Under a Creative Commons license
Background
Children
growing up in Bangladesh's Sylhet Division are some of the world's most
vulnerable youth. While this region is home to over 150 lush tea
estates, workers and their families living in the area's
densely-populated slums lack basic resources, such as clean water and
latrines. Diarrhea remains a leading cause of childhood morbidity and
mortality. In Spring 2014, Sesame Workshop and its local production team
Sisimpur developed a multi-media intervention to improve health and
hygiene knowledge, attitudes and behaviors among children and parents
living in Sylhet. A research study was conducted to examine the most
effective way to deliver these health communication messages.
Methods
A
twelve week intervention occurred in Bhurbhuria, Bhararura, and Satgaon
(similar communities within the Sylhet Division). Two approaches were
created. The “me” approach framed messages and activities as personal,
such that engaging in hygiene and sanitation behaviors would result in
stronger and healthier individuals (delivered in Bhurbhuria). The “we”
approach addressed hygiene and sanitation behaviors as community and
social endeavors (Bhararura). Participants from Satgaon served as a
control. Immediately before and after the intervention, 240 children
(ages 3 to 8 years) and one of their parents completed one-on-one
interviews. Active consent was used and the University of Maryland's IRB
evaluated and approved the study protocols and instruments.
Findings
The
interventions resulted in improvements in terms of hygiene and
sanitation. Those receiving the “me” approach had stronger and
statistically significant gains compared to those receiving the “we”
approach for: Reported latrine use (based on child reports); “all of the
time” hand-washing after defecation (parent reports); better
understanding of tippy taps (parent reports); awareness of Sisimpur
characters (child reports); and identifying behaviors depicted in the
intervention materials (child reports). In contrast, members of the “we”
approach did better than “me” approach for: Favorable attitudes of
sanitation and hygiene behaviors (child reports); using an improved
ventilated pit latrine at home (child reports); wearing shoes “all the
time” (child reports); and using a tippy tap (child reports).
Interpretation
The
Sisimpur interventions led to positive changes in hygiene and
sanitation knowledge, attitudes and behaviors; multi-media approaches
improved latrine use, shoe-wearing and hand-washing among young children
from Sylhet. Because gains occurred with both approaches, the “we”
approach was better as most participants felt the interventions' goals
were to improve health and behaviors of all children in the community.
While there were challenges and it is unknown how long the
interventions’ impact will last, this work suggests that a hygiene and
sanitation intervention can lead to improved outcomes with an extremely
vulnerable population.
Funding
This research was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Abstract #
01SEDH005
Copyright © 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc
