Intervention Study to Improve Maternal Handwashing

Summary

The purpose of the handwashing intervention trial is to determine whether an interactive, storytelling approach to promoting handwashing with soap by health care workers can improve mothers' handwashing behavior during the first month of her child's life.

Conditions

• Infection
• Neonatal

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Clinic

Pregnant women will receive handwashing promotion from a trained facility-based health care worker during her regular antenatal visit at a healthcare clinic. To the extent feasible, everyone accompanying the pregnant woman will be invited to take part in the behavior change communication session. The participant will be provided with several bars of soap to take home and she will be encouraged to maintain a designated place for washing hands (with soap and water) at the home. A poster indicating the key events for handwashing with soap will be posted at the clinic and smaller posters will be given to the participant to post in her home. A system will be established to send regular SMS messages to the participant promote handwashing with soap during the neonatal period.

BEHAVIORAL

Clinic + home

Women will receive all components of the clinic-based handwashing promotion in addition to handwashing promotion during 3-4 home visits before their expected delivery date and during the neonatal period from a community health volunteer. All household members present will be invited to join in the session, with emphasis on including all caregivers of the neonate.

BEHAVIORAL

Clinic + home + handwashing device

Women will receive all components of the clinic + home-based handwashing promotion intervention in addition to one handwashing device (i.e. tap and basin to use as a handwashing station) during the first home visit by the community health volunteer. The community health volunteer will work with the woman and her family to identify the location where the neonate will be most of the time in order to position the handwashing station as close to the neonate as possible.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Save the Children

  collaborator OTHER

• United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

  collaborator FED

• Unilever R&D

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• State University of New York at Buffalo

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Pavani K. Ram, M.D. · State University of New York at Buffalo

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-02-01

Primary Completion

2016-12-01

Completion

2018-08-31

Countries

• Kenya