Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research

Perception of drinking water safety and factors influencing acceptance and sustainability of a water quality intervention in rural southern India

Authors: Mark Rohit Francis, Guru Nagarajan, Rajiv Sarkar, Venkata Raghava Mohan, Gagandeep Kang, Vinohar Balraj

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2015

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Acceptance and long-term sustainability of water quality interventions are pivotal to realizing continued health benefits. However, there is limited research attempting to understand the factors that influence compliance to or adoption of such interventions.

Methods

Eight focus group discussions with parents of young children - including compliant and not compliant households participating in an intervention study, and three key-informant interviews with village headmen were conducted between April and May 2014 to understand perceptions on the effects of unsafe water on health, household drinking water treatment practices, and the factors influencing acceptance and sustainability of an ongoing water quality intervention in a rural population of southern India.

Results

The ability to recognize health benefits from the intervention, ease of access to water distribution centers and the willingness to pay for intervention maintenance were factors facilitating acceptance and sustainability of the water quality intervention. On the other hand, faulty perceptions on water treatment, lack of knowledge about health hazards associated with drinking unsafe water, false sense of protection from locally available water, resistance to change in taste or odor of water and a lack of support from male members of the household were important factors impeding acceptance and long term use of the intervention.

Conclusion

This study highlights the need to effectively involve communities at important stages of implementation for long term success of water quality interventions. Timely research on the factors influencing uptake of water quality interventions prior to implementation will ensure greater acceptance and sustainability of such interventions in low income settings.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Bain R, Cronk R, Wright J, Yang H, Slaymaker T, Bartram J. Fecal Contamination of Drinking-Water in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLoS Med. 2014;11:e1001644.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
2.
Onda K, LoBuglio J, Bartram J. Global Access to Safe Water: Accounting for Water Quality and the Resulting Impact on MDG Progress. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2012;9:880–94.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
3.
4.
Waage J, Banerji R, Campbell O, Chirwa E, Collender G, Dieltiens V, et al. The Millennium Development Goals: a cross-sectoral analysis and principles for goal setting after 2015. Lancet. 2010;376:991–1023.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Cairncross S, Hunt C, Boisson S, Bostoen K, Curtis V, Fung ICH, et al. Water, sanitation and hygiene for the prevention of diarrhoea. Int J Epidemiol. 2010;39 Suppl 1:i193–205.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
6.
Yang K, LeJeune J, Alsdorf D, Lu B, Shum CK, Liang S. Global Distribution of Outbreaks of Water-Associated Infectious Diseases. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012;6, e1483.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
7.
Walker CLF, Rudan I, Liu L, Nair H, Theodoratou E, Bhutta ZA, et al. Global burden of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea. Lancet. 2013;381:1405–16.CrossRefPubMed
8.
UNICEF, WHO. Diarrhoea: Why Children Are Still Dying and What Can Be Done. New York: United Nations Children’s Fund; 2009.
9.
Walker CLF, Perin J, Aryee MJ, Boschi-Pinto C, Black RE. Diarrhea incidence in low-and middle-income countries in 1990 and 2010: a systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2012;12:220.CrossRef
10.
Lanata CF, Fischer-Walker CL, Olascoaga AC, Torres CX, Aryee MJ, Black RE, et al. Global Causes of Diarrheal Disease Mortality in Children <5 Years of Age: A Systematic Review. PLoS ONE. 2013;8:e72788.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
11.
Bhutta ZA, Das JK, Walker N, Rizvi A, Campbell H, Rudan I, et al. Interventions to address deaths from childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea equitably: what works and at what cost? Lancet. 2013;381:1417–29.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Chopra M, Mason E, Borrazzo J, Campbell H, Rudan I, Liu L, et al. Ending of preventable deaths from pneumonia and diarrhoea: an achievable goal. Lancet. 2013;381:1499–506.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Wolf J, Prüss-Ustün A, Cumming O, Bartram J, Bonjour S, Cairncross S, et al. Systematic review: Assessing the impact of drinking water and sanitation on diarrhoeal disease in low- and middle-income settings: systematic review and meta-regression. Trop Med Int Health. 2014;19:928–42.CrossRefPubMed
14.
Arnold B, Arana B, Mausezahl D, Hubbard A, Colford JM. Evaluation of a pre-existing, 3-year household water treatment and handwashing intervention in rural Guatemala. Int J Epidemiol. 2009;38:1651–61.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
15.
Mengistie B, Berhane Y, Worku A. Household Water Chlorination Reduces Incidence of Diarrhea among Under-Five Children in Rural Ethiopia: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial. PLoS ONE. 2013;8, e77887.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
16.
Clasen TF, Brown J, Collin S, Suntura O, Cairncross S. Reducing Diarrhea Through the Use of Household-Based Ceramic Water Filters: A Randomized, Controlled Trial in Rural Bolivia. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2004;70:651–7.PubMed
17.
Makutsa P, Nzaku K, Ogutu P, Barasa P, Ombeki S, Mwaki A, et al. Challenges in implementing a point-of-use water quality intervention in rural Kenya. Am J Public Health. 2001;91:1571–3.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
18.
Firth J, Balraj V, Muliyil J, Roy S, Rani LM, Chandresekhar R, et al. Point-of-Use Interventions to Decrease Contamination of Drinking Water: A Randomized, Controlled Pilot Study on Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Acceptability of Closed Containers, Moringa oleifera, and In-home Chlorination in Rural South India. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2010;82:759–65.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
19.
Peletz R, Simuyandi M, Simunyama M, Sarenje K, Kelly P, Clasen T. Follow-Up Study to Assess the Use and Performance of Household Filters in Zambia. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2013;89:1190–4.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
20.
Luby SP, Mendoza C, Keswick BH, Chiller TM, Hoekstra RM. Difficulties in bringing point-of-use water treatment to scale in rural Guatemala. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2008;78:382–7.PubMed
21.
Sarkar R, Prabhakar AT, Manickam S, Selvapandian D, Raghava MV, Kang G, et al. Epidemiological investigation of an outbreak of acute diarrhoeal disease using geographic information systems. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2007;101:587–93.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Rose A, Roy S, Abraham V, Holmgren G, George K, Balraj V, et al. Solar disinfection of water for diarrhoeal prevention in southern India. Arch Dis Child. 2006;91:139–41.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
23.
Kalyan Banda RS. Water handling, sanitation and defecation practices in rural southern India: a knowledge, attitudes and practices study. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2007;101:1124–30.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Sarkar R, Sivarathinaswamy P, Thangaraj B, Sindhu KNC, Ajjampur SSR, Muliyil J, et al. Burden of childhood diseases and malnutrition in a semi-urban slum in southern India. BMC Public Health. 2013;13:87.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
25.
Kattula D, Sarkar R, Sivarathinaswamy P, Velusamy V, Venugopal S, Naumova EN, et al. The first 1000 days of life: prenatal and postnatal risk factors for morbidity and growth in a birth cohort in southern India. BMJ Open. 2014;4, e005404.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
26.
27.
FALTERMAIER T. Why public health research needs qualitative approaches Subjects and methods in change. Eur J Public Health. 1997;7:357–63.CrossRef
28.
Jones AQ, Dewey CE, Doré K, Majowicz SE, McEwen SA, Waltner-Toews D, et al. Public perception of drinking water from private water supplies: focus group analyses. BMC Public Health. 2005;5:129.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
29.
Jones AQ, Dewey CE, Doré K, Majowicz SE, McEwen SA, Waltner-Toews D, et al. A qualitative exploration of the public perception of municipal drinking water. Water Policy. 2007;9:425.CrossRef
30.
Ward LA, Cain OL, Mullally RA, Holliday KS, Wernham AG, Baillie PD, et al. Health beliefs about bottled water: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health. 2009;9:196.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
31.
Gopal S, Sarkar R, Banda K, Govindarajan J, Harijan BB, Jeyakumar MB, et al. Study of water supply & sanitation practices in India using geographic information systems: Some design & other considerations in a village setting. Indian J Med Res. 2009;129:233–41.PubMed
32.
Francis MR, Roy S, Sarkar R, Balraj V, Kang G. Evaluation of a commercially available polyvinylidene fluoride membrane filtration system for water decontamination. Indian J Med Microbiol. 2013;31:97–8.CrossRefPubMed
33.
Krueger RA, Casey MA. Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research. SAGE Publications: California, United States of America; 2000
34.
Corbin JM, Strauss A. Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria. Qual Sociol. 1990;13:3–21.CrossRef
35.
36.
Clasen T, McLaughlin C, Nayaar N, Boisson S, Gupta R, Desai D, et al. Microbiological effectiveness and cost of disinfecting water by boiling in semi-urban India. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2008;79:407–13.PubMed
37.
Wright JA, Yang H, Rivett U, Gundry SW. Public perception of drinking water safety in South Africa 2002–2009: a repeated cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2012;12:556.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
38.
Ambirajan S. State Government Subsidies: The Case of Tamil Nadu. Econ Polit Wkly. 1999;34:811–21.
39.
Gill P, Stewart K, Treasure E, Chadwick B. Methods of data collection in qualitative research: interviews and focus groups. Br Dent J. 2008;204:291–5.CrossRefPubMed
40.
Cairncross S: Environmental Health Engineering in the Tropics: An Introductory Text. 2nd ed. Chichester ; New York: J. Wiley; 1993.
Metadata
Title
Perception of drinking water safety and factors influencing acceptance and sustainability of a water quality intervention in rural southern India
Authors
Mark Rohit Francis
Guru Nagarajan
Rajiv Sarkar
Venkata Raghava Mohan
Gagandeep Kang
Vinohar Balraj
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1974-0

Other articles of this Issue 1/2015

BMC Public Health 1/2015 Go to the issue

Study protocol

A cluster randomised trial testing an intervention to improve parents’ recognition of their child’s weight status: study protocol

Research article

Health and ageing in Nairobi’s informal settlements-evidence from the International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and Their Health (INDEPTH): a cross sectional study

Research article

Cardiometabolic disease risk and HIV status in rural South Africa: establishing a baseline

Research article

The association of health literacy with adherence in older adults, and its role in interventions: a systematic meta-review

Research article

Demographic factors associated with smoking cessation during pregnancy in New South Wales, Australia, 2000–2011

Research article

Associations of psychological capital, demographic and occupational factors with cigarette smoking among Chinese underground coal miners