BIGD conducted a rapid qualitative study on gaps in people’s existing hygiene knowledge and practice and opportunities for intervention to help BRAC, a partner of the “Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition (HBCC),” design and develop new behavioural change and communication materials that can effectively address people’s handwashing behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 30 respondents from BRAC WASH beneficiary group were interviewed, along with four BRAC field workers through virtual communication platforms, including in-depth interviews, online focus group discussions, and visual content observations. The study found that although people were more or less aware of the importance of handwashing, mask use, and social distancing, the practices varied considerably.
Researchers: Dr Shahaduz Zaman, Tanvir Shatil
Partners: BRAC
Timeline: 2020-2021
Status: Ongoing
Contact: Tanvir Shatil
tanvir.shatil@bracu.ac.bd
Publications
Context
Regular handwashing and behavioural change have been identified as one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, in most developing countries like including Bangladesh, many people have not adopted a proper practice of handwashing. As a partner of the “Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition (HBCC),” BRAC invited BIGD to conduct a rapid formative research on identifying gaps in people’s existing hygiene knowledge and practice and opportunities for intervention. In doing so, the study aimed to help BRAC design and develop new Behavioural Change and Communication (BCC) materials that can effectively address people’s handwashing behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Objectives
This study aims to investigate how users perceive the awareness of messages and translate them into everyday behaviour and the facilitating factors and the barriers people face in following COVID-19 related public health and social guidelines.
Methodology
This qualitative study used various data collection methods, through virtual communication platforms, including in-depth interviews, online focus group discussions (FGDs), and visual content observations (e.g., photographs and videos). The intention was to substitute physical shadow observation, which is a necessary technique for qualitative research on behaviour change. A total of 30 respondents from BRAC WASH beneficiary group were interviewed, along with four BRAC field workers. The respondents were selected from Dhaka and Khulna districts.
Findings and Recommendations
Findings showed that respondents have different levels of knowledge and practices, categorized as correct, partially correct and misconceptions on three domains: hand washing, mask use, and social distancing. The study also revealed personal and structural barriers to comply with the guidelines. People were more or less aware of the necessity of all three domains. However, the practices varied.
Women performing household chores were more likely to use soap during the pandemic, while men in different occupations faced difficulties due to lack of handwashing facilities at workplaces. Despite awareness, regular mask use has declined, compared to the early days of the outbreak. There was also a lack of awareness on proper wear and disposal of the masks. People in rural areas were reluctant to wear masks inside their village neighbourhoods, even in crowded places.
People were found to resume their everyday social interactions and not to maintain social distancing anymore, since others in the neighbourhood did not. Respondents were also receiving contradictory information from different sources. For example, the official news about the infection and mortality numbers did not match with what they were seeing in their local communities. There were misperceptions, inadequate and inappropriate practices, and confusion, most of which originated from the absence of proper and specific assessment of the community context.
To improve awareness, the importance of wearing a mask even if the veil is maintained should be conveyed to the female members of the community who wear veils. More demonstrations, using posters and flipcharts, should be taken into consideration as a BCC intervention. At the household level, providing logistic and messaging interventions to slum dwellers or the lower-middle-income class to improve their common and shared handwashing facilities can improvise existing handwashing. At the community level, intervention packages, combining logistic support (soap) and messaging materials (posters/leaflets), should be introduced (posters could be set up in front of Oju stations) to raise awareness and encourage people to wash their hands.
