How should organisations decide on appropriate and safe methods to assess hygiene behaviour outcomes?

There are four main ways of measuring hygiene behaviour change outcomes:

1. Structured observation at households,

2. Household spot-checks,

3. Structured observation or spot checks at public facilities,

4. Self-reported behaviour.

Below we describe how these can be applied to measuring handwashing behaviour and highlight strengths and limitations of each method in general, as well as during the COVID-19 outbreak. These methods can be adapted to measure other preventative behaviours too.

Want to learn more about adapting hygiene project outcome measures for COVID-19 response?

• What factors should organisations consider when deciding on data collection methods for COVID-19 response?

• Should in-person data collection be considered during the COVID-19 pandemic?

• Is it appropriate and safe to conduct structured observations of household handwashing behaviour?

• Is it appropriate and safe to conduct household level spot checks of handwashing facilities?

• Is it appropriate and safe to conduct structured observations and spot checks at public facilities?

• What are the benefits and limitations of using self-reported handwashing outcome measures?

• Decision Tree - How to choose between household observations, spot-checks and self-reported behaviour outcome measures?

Editor's Note

Authors: Fiona Majorin and Julie Watson
Review: Deepak Saxena, Katie Greenland, Hans Mosler, Dr Robina Shaheen
Last update: 11.06.2020