Online Program

286735
Women's perception of hygiene and sanitation in rural andhra pradesh India


Monday, November 4, 2013

Chelsea Pallatino, MPH, Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA
Clareann Bunker, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA
K Balasubramanian, PhD, Mediciti Institute of Medical Sciences, SHARE India, Ghanpur Village, Medchal Mandal, R.R. District 501 401, India
In rural southern India, despite high rates of antenatal visits and of delivery within healthcare institutions, the infant mortality rate (IMR) remains high at 42 deaths per 1,000 live births. In order to further understand the social, ecological, financial, and environmental factors contributing to adverse health outcomes, convenience sampling was utilized by SHARE INDIA staff to facilitate focus group discussions (FGDs) with six to ten mothers (ages 18-35) in six villages of Medchal Mandal. The FGDs explored mothers' home health and sanitation practices such as bathing, toileting, waste disposal, hand-washing, breast-feeding, menstrual health, cosleeping, and laundering. It was hypothesized that the high IMR can be attributed to lack of clean water access and other sanitation resources such as proper latrines, showers, sinks, and waste disposal areas, along with antiseptic cleansers to complement these behaviors. In addition, it was hypothesized that the high IMR can be explained by a lack of awareness among the priority population concerning the benefits, consequences, and proper completion of hygienic behaviors. Emerging FGD themes including a lack of accessibility of health promotion resources and awareness of necessary sanitary behaviors supported hypotheses. When possible, women took extra precautions to protect the health of children, but health-related decision-making and mothers' understanding of appropriate situations to perform home health behaviors identified environmental and cultural barriers prohibiting routine performance of evidence-based health behaviors. Future research and intervention activities will target promotion and education regarding health promotion practices in the home to address appropriate completion of routine hygienic behaviors.

Learning Areas:

Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Diversity and culture
Public health or related education
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Identify the social, ecological, financial, and environmental factors contributing to adverse health outcomes. Assess women's current level of practice of health promotion behaviors.

Keyword(s): Behavioral Research, Infant Mortality

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I independently planned the project, lead in the implementation of the project, and have analyzed data obtained from the project that provided the basis for this presentation. I have been trained in public health in the area of global, behavioral, and community health, and have studied the project area discussed for the presentation. I have continued my research on the area and have independently wrote this presentation with input from secondary authors.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.