The influence of culture on open defaecation in some basic schools in selected districts in Ghana: A preliminary study

Abstract

Open defaecation has remained a major public and environmental health concern which has gained global attention. This study explored cultural factors including superstition, taboo, norms and values influencing open defaecation behaviour among basic school pupils in the Eastern and Volta Regions all within Southern Ghana. Self-reported data were collected from 400 pupils using structured questionnaire and focus group discussions. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data. The qualitative data was analyzed using thematic content analytical procedure. The results of the study showed, superstitions, traditional norms and taboo yielded statistically significant effect sizes with pupils’ open defaecation behaviour: and superstition: r = 0.728, p< 0.05; traditional norms: r = 0.425, p <0.05; taboos: r = 0.462, p<0.05. The study concluded that superstitions and traditional norm and taboo constituted the key cultural drivers influencing pupils’ open defaecation behaviour in the Eastern and Volta Regions. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education should incorporate open defaecation issues into the educational curriculum and develop culturally sensitive educational programs for a massive educational campaign to stop open defaecation in the schools. To ensure that the messaging for these campaigns resonate with target audience, communication campaigns should promote a number of positive emotional and social issues related to improved social status and positive self-esteem, better growth and economic opportunities with toilet use.