Access to handwashing with soap facility: a post-sensitisation investigation of drivers

Abstract

As part of measures to promote good hygiene, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund adopted affordable handwashing with soap facility (Tippy-Tap), and implemented a sensitisation training for residents in the Binduri District of Ghana. In the context of good hygiene technology adoption, this study examines how poor communities have adopted and used Tippy-Tap over a period of 1 year. The study further identifies the associated post-sensitisation drivers of the Tippy-Tap. In addition to descriptive analysis, this study relies on post-sensitisation cross-sectional data and a logit regression with its marginal effects for the analysis. The results show that after the sensitisation programme, the adoption and use rate now stands at 90%, up from the baseline of 4%. The study provides evidence that female household-heads are more likely to adopt and use the Tippy-Tap relative to male household-heads. The study further reveals that being educated increases the probability of accessing the Tippy-Tap facility by about 23%. Subsequently, this study finds that personal, household, and community-level characteristics are the key drivers of the high adoption and use rate. In conclusion, the study finds evidence of a high adoption and use rate of the Tippy-Tap initiative after its sensitisation. The study recommends extensive sensitisation of hand hygiene using community-level social norms and practices.