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Hans-Joachim Mosler - Thursday 25 January 2007

Comments on behavioral indicators to measure efficacy of a SODIS campaign

In our experience (Bolivia) people do not use SODIS exclusively as a water treatment method, but they often also boil water and it is not the aim to substitute boiling. One reason is, that boiling is safe and the other, that people need boiled water for making tea or when temperature outside is low. Then they simply prefer to drink something hot.

Indicators that have shown to be adequate are:
• Measurement if people still consume untreated water, and if so, in which quantities. To improve further campaigns it is also useful to ask why and at which occasions (it tastes fresh; it is cold and refreshing etc.). This is in our belief the best indicator if a campaign was successful – to reduce consumption of raw water to as near as possible 0%.
• Another indicator – in case there is still (occasional) consumption of raw water and/or other treatment methods are in use – is to ask, how much water people treat with SODIS, boiling, chlorine etc., and then calculate percentages. 1l of treated water may seem very little, but if it's only one person in the household it may cover 100% of the water he/she consumes.
• Bottles in the sun are a great indicator, but again: how many would that particular family need, and: do they have bottle in the fridge or stored somewhere else. We experienced very often that people weren't preparing every day, but according to their consumption every 2nd day for example.

In our project in the Kiberas slum in Nairobi we applied the following measure which seems to be adequate because people cannot estimate their daily consumption in liters but in glasses:
How much of each liquid do your children drink each day? NAME THE CHILD, USE GLASS!
Name of the child:

Name of the child:
Name of the child:
Name of the child

Nr of Glasses Nr of Glasses Nr of Glasses Nr of Glasses
 breast feeding
 tea
 cow milk
 raw water
water kiosk 
borehole 
surface water 
rain water 
other:
 SODIS water
 filtered water
 chlorinated water
 boiled water
 soda
 juice
 porridge
 other:

Other points:
I do not agree to the statement that “Objective measures are preferable to subjective ones” because objective measures can only be done on certain points of time but asking people they will integrate their behavior over a longer time. Besides this all data have not to been taken absolutely but relational. So we have to compare populations/groups with and without a campaign and if we apply the same subjective measure then there is no problem.

To the behavioral determinants:
We use an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior of Ajzen. There perceived behavioral control contains the variable bottle availability which is missing in the presented Model of Communication and Hygiene Behavior. For an example see: Altherr, A.M., Mosler, H.-J., Tobias, R. & Butera, F. (2006) Attitudinal and relational factors predicting the use of solar water disinfection: A field study in Nicaragua. Health Education & Behavior, 20(5), 1-14.