A culturally sensitive educational intervention to improve the acceptance and sustained use of safer cooking stoves in the Guatemalan highlands.

Abstract

This study introduces a culturally sensitive educational intervention to households that use open-fire cooking methods in order to improve the acceptance and sustained use of a safer cooking stove. A wood-burning stove with a closed firebox was introduced in two villages in the highlands of Guatemala. Usage rates were measured over a seven-month period after the stoves were built. Although higher initial acceptance rates were seen in the village that received the educational intervention, households in both villages showed acceptance and sustained usage rates of the stoves. This finding supports the premise that culturally sensitive educational interventions as well as community-based programmes lead to higher acceptance of initiatives, and news of these improvements spreads through culturally accepted routes.