Determining behavioral factors for interventions to increase safe water consumption: a cross-sectional field study in rural Ethiopia
In developing countries, the lack of safe water options leads to many health risks. In the Ethiopian Rift Valley, most water sources are contaminated with an excess of fluoride. The consumption of fluoride-contaminated water leads to dental and skeletal fluorosis. The article presents
an approach to designing community interventions based on evidence from quantitative data. After installing a community filter, a baseline study was conducted in 211 households to survey the acceptance and usage of the filter. To identify important psychological factors that lead to health
behavior change, the Risk, Attitude, Norm, Ability, Self-regulation (RANAS) model was taken into account. Descriptive statistics were calculated for behavioral determinants, and their influence on consumption was analyzed with a linear regression. For every behavioral factor, an intervention
potential (IP) was calculated. It was found that perceived distance, factual knowledge, commitment, and taste strongly influenced participants’ consumption behavior and therefore should be tackled for interventions.
Keywords: Ethiopia; RANAS; behavior change; drinking water; interventions
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: Siam, Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Ueberlandstrasse 133, P.O. Box 611Duebendorf,8600, Switzerland
Publication date: 01 April 2013
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