Open AccessEvaluation of facial cleanliness and environmental improvement activities: Lessons learned from Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda
Author(s) -
Angelia M. Sanders,
Ruth Dixon,
Logan Stuck,
Michaela Kelly,
Geordie Woods,
Edridah Muheki,
Gilbert Baayenda,
Michael Masika,
Holystone Kafanikhale,
Upendo Mwingira,
Leah Wohlgemuth
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos neglected tropical diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.99
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 1935-2735
pISSN - 1935-2727
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009962
Subject(s) - trachoma , tanzania , sanitation , hygiene , environmental health , promotion (chess) , intervention (counseling) , health promotion , medicine , data collection , focus group , environmental protection , optometry , geography , business , public health , environmental planning , nursing , marketing , political science , statistics , mathematics , pathology , politics , law
The World Health Organization promotes the SAFE (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, and Environmental improvements) strategy for trachoma control and prevention. The F&E components of the strategy focus on promotion of healthy hygiene and sanitation behaviors. In order to monitor F&E activities implemented across villages and schools in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda, an F&E Monitoring and Evaluation (FEME) framework was developed to track quarterly program outputs and to provide the basis for a pre and post evaluation of the activities. Results showed an increase in knowledge at the school and household levels, and in some cases, an increase in presence of hand/face washing stations. However, this did not always result in a change in trachoma prevention behaviors such as facial cleanliness or keeping compounds free of human feces. The results highlight that the F&E programs were effective in increasing awareness of trachoma prevention but not able to translate that knowledge into changes in behavior during the time between pre and post-surveys. This study also indicates the potential to improve the data collection and survey design and notes that the period of intervention was not long enough to measure significant changes.