An educational intervention for altering water-sanitation behaviours to reduce childhood diarrhoea in urban Bangladesh: formulation, preparation and delivery of educational intervention

Abstract

The formulation, preparation and delivery of an educational intervention previously shown to alter hygienic practices and reduce rates of childhood diarrhea in 25 slum communities in Dhaka, Bangladesh is described in detail. Successful aspects of the program included involvement of community members in goal determination, involvement of community members and women as trainers, focusing conflict into positive actions and utilization of informal training techniques. The failures included inadequate transfer of technical aid to communities and insufficient involvement of volunteer-trainers in curriculum development. We suggest possible explanations for these successes and failures and suggest that these hypotheses should, if possible, be subjected to formal evaluation.