Abstract
We evaluated the influence of induced behavioural change on the community to adopt safe excreta disposal practices. This study was informed by unmerited programs which are majorly provided by most of the health organisations providing sanitary facilities rather than effective use which have failed to reduce the persistent occurrence of waterborne epidemics due to unsafe excreta disposal. Information sought in this survey was from two distinct populations of triggered and non-triggered villages of Turkana County, Kenya. Purposive sampling was used in identifying triggered and non-triggered villages, while systematic random sampling was used to administer structured questionnaires to respondents from identified sample units. From analysed data, the results showed latrine users from triggered villages were many compared with non-triggered villages. Again, the variable of education level, which showed to be critical, suggesting to influence latrine use among rural communities irrespective of the triggers. The parameter estimator of public health extension services and information sharing means from the neighbourhood showed to be statistically significant in influencing adoption and diffusion of health knowledge. In conclusion, involving health experts in knowledge diffusion and scaling up formal education among communities influences the adoption of safe excreta disposal practices. The significance of random factor in the OLS model, explains omitted and/or unobserved variables and existences of unclearly explained variables, informs the need for further investigation.
Highlights
The dichotomous relationship of deaths from waterborne epidemics that results from environmental factors such as inadequacy of basic environmental sanitation is a serious health risk and an affront to human dignity (Izua et al, 2015)
The low use of unsafe excreta disposal methods in the triggered village compared with the non-triggered village from study findings buttresses the merit of triggering as a measure of correcting the environmental disorder
Triggering reveals to have influenced the marginal proportion of households at nearly 25% to adopt personal hygiene by washing hands after defecation
Summary
The dichotomous relationship of deaths from waterborne epidemics that results from environmental factors such as inadequacy of basic environmental sanitation is a serious health risk and an affront to human dignity (Izua et al, 2015). The unhygienic environment exposes humans to diseases. High costs from diseases that are associated with an unhygienic environment in developing economies show no sign of reduction, despite the numerous sanitation intervention programs (WHO & UNICEF, 2014). Water-related diseases such as typhoid, diarrhoea, and dysentery, among others, account for about 17% of the disease burden in developing countries (Izua et al, 2015; Venkataramanan et al, 2017). While the projection of the population globally that faces the health risks from consumption of polluted water often from open defecation is over 2.6 billion which is nearly 40%, with the majority being found in developing economies (WHO & UNICEF, 2014)
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