Barriers and motivators to participation in hand washing promotion programs at household level among refugees in Rhino Settlement, Arua District _ Uganda

Abstract

Introduction: The major aim of hand washing promotion programs is to persuade people to change their behaviour to reduce high-risk hygiene practices and use. Unfortunately, in a refugee setting, there is a dearth of information about participation in hand washing promotion programs. Objective: To assess barriers and motivators to participation in hand washing promotion programs at household level among refugees in Rhino Camp, Arua district, Uganda. Methods: A crosssectional study was conducted to collect quantitative and qualitative data. A semistructured questionnaire was used to collect data on participation, individual, household factors related to hand washing promotional programs from 312 refugees. Five key informant interviews were conducted to gather data on public policy, institutional and community factors related to participation in the hand washing promotion programs. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results: Only 19.6% (61/312) of the refugees had participated in hand washing promotion programs. Significant barriers to participation were; no formal education and staying in the camp for more than 3 years. The significant motivators were; households who had 6 to 10 members and more. Conclusion: Participation in hand washing promotion programs was low among the refugees. There is need for relevant stakeholders to come up with interventions to increase participation among the refugees while taking into consideration the potential barriers and motivators to their participation as identified by this study.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Behaviours, and the Oral Health Status of School- Going Adolescent Boys and Young Men in Kampala, Uganda

“…This is because availability of hand hygiene facilities in places where hand hygiene must be practiced increases the opportunity of practicing it. Earlier studies revealed that having hand hygiene facilities with water and soap at critical points increases their utilisation, and consequently hand hygiene practice (Namara et al, 2020).…”

“…52.8% (159/301) for sometimes, 1% (3/301) for always, 10% (30/301) for most of the time, 4.7% (14/301) for never and 31.6% (95/301) for rarely. About 20.9% (391/1869) of the respondents had visited a dentist at least once in the last 12 months.…”

What are the barriers and facilitators to community handwashing with water and soap? A systematic review

“…Three studies mentioned that the social pressures exerted by community members motivated handwashing. It was found that conforming to hand hygiene rules in churches in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was done to maintain a good image; moreover, in Uganda, households observed to perform correct handwashing practices by neighbors influenced them to do the same [ 19 , 31 ]. In addition, children reminding their mothers to wash their hands acted as a form of social influence, facilitating handwashing behavior [ 53 ].…”

“…Twenty-two of the 46 studies identified multiple barriers to hand hygiene because of the environmental context and resources. Most prominently, 11 studies found that the lack of handwashing resources limited the ability to carry out proper hand hygiene [ 19 , 22 – 24 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 40 , 41 , 61 ], due to the lack of handwash station hardware and water supply and its quality, multiuse of soap for both handwashing and laundry, and soap shortages [ 19 , 22 – 24 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 39 – 41 ]. Nine studies found that a high cost of materials and a low budget placed financial restraints on hand hygiene [ 17 , 19 , 22 , 30 , 34 , 35 , 41 , 42 , 45 ].…”