The context and practice of handwashing among new mothers in Serang, Indonesia: a formative research study

BMC Public Health

Robert Aunger³  Yanti Yulianti Maskoen¹  Abigael Ati¹  Endang Iradati²  Katie Greenland³ 

[1] Consultant for MCHIP- Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (Jhpiego), Jakarta, Indonesia;MCHIP-Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program, Jakarta, Indonesia;Environmental Health Group, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK

关键词: Behaviour change;    Formative research;    Hand-washing;   

Others  :  1161803
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-13-830

 received in 2012-10-01, accepted in 2013-09-04,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

This article reports on formative research into the context and practice of handwashing with soap by new mothers, which can substantially impact child morbidity and mortality. New mothers are an important target group for handwashing interventions: they are considered particularly susceptible to behaviour change and their actions can directly affect a child’s health.

Methods

Twenty-seven mothers of infants (including neonates) from urban and rural sub-districts of Serang were recruited and filmed over a period of eight hours. Video footage was used to identify handwashing occasions and to understand the context in which behaviour took place. Each woman was subsequently interviewed.

Results

Handwashing with soap was found to be infrequent, typically occurring after eating, cooking and household chores or after cleaning a child’s bottom. Handwashing before preparing food or eating was rare. Pre-pregnancy routines were reported to have been disrupted. Advice on child care comes from many sources, particularly the midwife and new child’s grandmother.

Conclusions

Developing interventions to change perceptions and practice of handwashing would seed an important behaviour and could save lives. New mothers represent an ideal target group for such an intervention. We suggest that interventions target an increase in handwashing with soap after contact with own and a baby’s faecal matter as part of the post-defecation hygiene routines. As the child’s grandmother is an authoritative source of information about parenting, interventions focussed on improving newborn care could target grandmothers as well as midwives.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Greenland et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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