Washing with Hope: Evidence from a hand-washing pilot study among children in South Africa

Justine Burns, Brendan Maughan-Brown and Âurea Mouzinho
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Justine Burns: School of Economics, University of Cape Town
Brendan Maughan-Brown: Southern Africa Labour Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town
Âurea Mouzinho: Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, Africa, University of Cape Town

No 199, SALDRU Working Papers from Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town

Abstract: This paper reports the results of a randomised-control pilot study in which children in treatment households received a bi-monthly delivery of HOPE SOAP© , a colourful, translucent bar of soap with a toy embedded in its centre. In contrast, children in control households received a colourful, translucent bar or soap with the toy alongside it. Whilst many of our findings lack statistical power, the pilot certainly suggests that HOPE SOAP© has positive effects on child handwashing behaviour. At endline, HOPE SOAP© children are directly observed as being more likely to wash their hands unprompted prior to eating a snack. They are also more likely to wash their hands after using the toilet, are significantly more likely to use soap to wash their hands as opposed to just rinsing with water, and enjoy significantly better health outcomes.

Keywords: Hand-washing intervention; Childhood health; Pilot randomised controlled trial; Behavioural economics; Development economics; Habit formation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev
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