Evaluation of a Multiple Behaviour Programme for Diarrhoea Management

Evaluation of a Multiple Behaviour Programme to Prevent and Manage Diarrhoea Among Children Under-five in Lusaka, Zambia

Control of diarrhoeal disease requires a comprehensive package of preventive and curative interventions. in Zambia, the Programme for Awareness and Elimination of Diarrhoea (PAED) aims to reduce child deaths by combating diarrhoea in Lusaka province, Zambia. The behaviour change component of the PAED programme seeks to change behaviours important for diarrhoea prevention (handwashing with soap and exclusive breastfeeding) and improved treatment outcomes (use of oral rehydration solution (ORS) and zinc in home management of child diarrhoea).

The study aims to evaluate the feasibility of implementing a multiple behaviour change community programme to tackle diarrhoeal disease in children under-five and to assess the impact of this programme on practice of the target behaviours by caregivers of children under-five. The research questions will be answered through a a two-arm cluster-randomised trial (eight clusters per study arm).

Specific objectives of the study are as follows:

• Evaluate the effect of the programme on ORS and zinc uptake and usage, exclusive breastfeeding and handwashing with soap (primary objective)

• Determine the extent to which the programme has positively influenced key mediating factors that determine behaviour (i.e. social norms, physical infrastructure, attitudes, and disease and treatment perceptions)

• Investigate which components of the community programme (i.e. specific activities in clinics, community events etc.) are linked to the success of the programme (most acceptable, feasible etc) and in what context

  o Validate model of intervention theory that explains how the context and mechanisms of the intervention interact to produce behavioural outcomes

• Determine which target populations are more likely to uptake the desired behaviours and identify the supporting factors that might explain this

• Conduct process evaluation to assess i) if the programme has been implemented as intended, ii) if the desired levels of reach and coverage have been achieved, iii) costs of implementation, iv) the extent to which changes in behaviour are likely to be due to the intervention.

Inclusion Criteria:

• caregiver with child under six months (for assessment of handwashing and exclusive breastfeeding outcomes - healthy volunteers)
• caregiver with child under five years with current or recent (last 7 days) diarrhoea (for assessment of ORS and zinc outcomes)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not resident in study area