Development of integrated assessment tool for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in non-household settings under climate change context.

Access to improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services is crucial in recognizing human rights to water and sanitation and due to their impacts on education, livelihoods, and human health. However, these services are often inadequate in non-household settings such as prisons, refugee camps, schools, and healthcare facilities. Progress in monitoring to ensure sustainable services in these settings has been limited. Although several tools are available to assess WASH services in both household and non-household settings, they have limitations, and none has taken a holistic approach to evaluate WASH performance in all non-household settings. Furthermore, the impacts of climate change on WASH services are rarely considered in these evaluations, making the inadequacies of WASH services worse. To address these gaps, an integrated tool was developed to assess WASH performance in non-household settings, incorporating financial, institutional, environmental impact, technical, social, and climate change factors. The tool provides scores for indicators to solve the problem of a lack of final aggregated data to enable decision-makers to determine the level of WASH performance in a setting. Moreover, it provides qualitative explanations for each score, allowing decision-makers to identify areas for improvement. This tool offers valuable and insightful data for improving WASH facilities and ensuring sustainable services in non-household settings, particularly for WASH service providers and local governments.

Safety and health measures compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic for community-based tourism in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand: A cross-sectional descriptive study.

Community-based tourism (CBT) in Thailand faces challenges in adapting to COVID-19 prevention measures. The purpose of the study was to evaluate levels of knowledge, practice, and compliance regarding safety and health measures of the entrepreneur in managing CBT under the Safety and Health Administration (SHA) standard in the new normal situation. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on twenty-one entrepreneurs from three CBTs in three districts in Nakhon Si Thammarat, in the months of February-May 2021. Levels of knowledge and practice were evaluated by questionnaires and compliance level was evaluated by SHA standard checklist. The level of knowledge and practice were categorized sufficient and insufficient, while compliance level was categorized as high or low if scores met or exceeded 80%, based on Bloom's cut-off point. Information on sociodemographic characteristics was also gathered. Fisher's exact test with a 95% confidence level (α < 0.05) was used for statistical analysis. The findings revealed that 66.7% and 38.1% of the establishments in the study had sufficient knowledge (Mean ± SD: 46.9 ± 7.2, Max: 55.0, Min: 33.0) and sufficient practice (Mean ± SD: 40.4 ± 9.2, Max: 55.0, Min: 29.0), respectively. In addition, the study found that knowledge level was significantly associated with practice level at a p-value of 0.018. However, compliance level was not related to knowledge and practice. In conclusion, the low level of compliance was due to a lack of understanding and motivation to comply with the standard, and the budget of small establishments in CBT for bringing them up to the SHA standard was quite limited. Therefore, the related organizations should use a variety of strategies to encourage entrepreneurs, such as partnership building and resource support.

Knowledge and practice of facemask disposal among university students in Thailand: A new normal post the COVID-19 pandemic.

The use of facemasks is essential to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. University students are a significant demographic that generates substantial infectious waste due to the new normal practice of using disposable facemasks. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the facemask disposal knowledge and practices among university students in Thailand between September and October 2022. We used a self-report questionnaire comprising 29 questions to determine the students' demographic characteristics and facemask disposal knowledge and practices. We then applied a logistic regression model to estimate the association between the students' facemask disposal knowledge and practices and their demographic characteristics. A total of 433 participants completed the questionnaire comprising health science (45.27%) and non-health science (54.73%) students. Surgical masks were the most popular masks (89.84%), followed by N95 (26.33%) and cloth masks (9.94%). While their levels of knowledge regarding facemask disposal were poor, the students' practices were good. The factors associated with proper facemask disposal were sex (AOR = 0.469, 95% CI: 0.267, 0.825), academic grade (AOR = 0.427, 95% CI: 0.193, 0.948), and knowledge level (AOR = 0.594, 95% CI: 0.399, 0.886). No demographic factors influenced knowledge. Our findings highlight the influence of facemask disposal knowledge on students' disposal practices. Information promoting the appropriate disposal practices should therefore be promoted extensively. Furthermore, continuous reinforcement by raising awareness and educating students on proper facemask disposal combined with the provision of adequate infectious waste disposal facilities could help reduce the environmental contamination of infectious waste and thus improve general waste management.

Access to inclusive sanitation and participation in sanitation programs for people with disabilities in Indonesia.

Access to inclusive sanitation for people with disabilities (PWDs) remains a global challenge, including in Indonesia, where 10-15% of its population is disabled. Inclusive sanitation facilities can be achieved when PWDs are involved in the sanitation-related decision-making process, e.g., designing toilet that meets their needs. This study aims to investigate the situation of the sanitation facility in houses of PWDs and understand knowledge, attitude, and practices related to PWD participation in sanitation programs using a case study in two provinces in Indonesia: Nusa Tenggara Barat and Nusa Tenggara Timur. Quantitative data were taken from 129 PWD households, and qualitative data were from in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders. The latter was presented in a causal loop diagram. Less than 5% had inclusive sanitation at home, mainly due to no supportive tools and bins. The knowledge levels related to sanitation and PWDs participation in sanitation programs were relatively low. Economic condition was one of the barriers for PWDs to participate in the sanitation program. Statistical analysis found that a higher household head education level was associated with a more positive attitude and higher PWD participation in sanitation programs. Although Indonesian law supports PWD participation, the implementation remains a challenge. This study also underlines the need for capacity building in facilitating PWDs' involvement in sanitation programs and community meetings. Finally, barriers to PWD participation can come from different levels and actors, e.g., the family, the community, the district level, and the PWD itself, indicating the need to involve actors at all levels to enhance PWD participation in the sanitation program that leads to inclusive sanitation facilities for all groups.

Public Perception and Hand Hygiene Behavior During COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia.

Hand hygiene practices are important not only during the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but also critical to prevent the possible spread of other infectious diseases. This study aims to examine the current hand hygiene behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, post pandemic behavior intentions, and the relationship between behavior, psychosocial and contextual factors. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted from 28 May to 12 June 2020, with 896 valid responses obtained from Indonesian citizens over 18 years old. The survey questions included demographic characteristics, individual practices, risk perceptions, attitude, norm factors and ability factors related to hand hygiene during the COVID-19 pandemic. Descriptive analysis, chi square and multiple logistic regression tests were used to analyse the data. The results showed that 82.32% of female respondents and 73.37% male respondents reported handwashing practice 8 times or more per day during COVID-19 pandemic. Participants who perceived themselves at higher risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 (OR 7.08, 2.26-22.17), had less negative perception toward the practice (OR 1.93, 1.32-2.82), perceived handwashing as an effective preventive measure (OR 1.77, 1.23-2.54), were female (OR 1.71, 1.21-2.41), perceived a more supportive norm (OR 1.68, 1.15-2.44) and noticed more barriers in access to handwashing facilities (OR 1.57, 1.05-2.36) were more likely to engage in hand hygiene practice more frequently during the pandemic. In conclusion, the majority of respondents did increase their frequency of hand hygiene practices during COVID-19 pandemic. In line with previous studies in other pandemic contexts, sex, perceived susceptibility and effectiveness are important predictors of hand hygiene practices, which are similar to findings from previous studies in other pandemic contexts. Addressing social norm related to the perceived hand hygiene practices of friends and important people is a potential health promotion strategy by creating hand hygiene norms in the community.

Socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on waste bank closed-loop system in Surabaya, Indonesia.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused most waste recycling activities to be terminated due to several factors, such as concerns about the spread of coronavirus through the collected solid waste. This study investigates the socio-economic impact of the situation of the closed-loop system of solid waste recycling. Several recommendations for tackling this problem are presented in this research. Primary data collection for the waste bank and informal recycling sector was carried out in the eastern part of Surabaya during large-scale social restrictions. In-depth interviews were conducted with waste bank customers, waste bank unit representatives and the informal recycling sector to understand the pandemic's socio-economic impact on the closed-loop system. Results show that this pandemic has significant impacts on individuals and stakeholders engaged in waste recycling activities. Customers of waste banks, who mostly belong to low-income communities, mentioned that the waste bank closure gave rise to social and economic problems, such as increasing unmanaged solid waste and decreasing income. This result also applied to the informal recycling sector. The government can use the recommendations in this study to generate related policies, such as enforcing the health protocol within solid waste management to keep the recycling system in place and the business alive.