Informing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) communication through local expertise: a qualitative study with healthcare providers in Northern Uganda

Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials relay information crucial for improving WASH behaviours in healthcare settings. However, due to a limited in-depth understanding of the status and the involvement of local experts in the IEC material development process, improvements in WASH in HCF remain suboptimal. This qualitative descriptive study employed seven focus groups and nine key informant interviews with local experts to enhance our understanding of WASH status, assess the availability of IEC materials, identify priority topics for messaging, and highlight considerations for optimising their use. This study revealed that HCFs faced numerous challenges, including intermittent supply, low-yield water supply, poor water quality, congestion, inadequate operation and maintenance of water sources, open defecation, limited hand hygiene infrastructure, poor environmental hygiene, and weak healthcare waste management practices. The absence of appropriate IEC materials to promote desired WASH behaviours further compounded the suboptimal status. To address the suboptimal status, local experts recommended that the messages on IEC materials should tackle the attitudes and practices of patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers, as well as water safety, sanitation, and hygiene, healthcare waste management, and environmental cleaning, while being inclusive and considering the display and language used by the target community. The study highlights the crucial role of local experts in guiding the development and utilisation of IEC materials to promote WASH behaviours and enhance conditions in healthcare facilities.