Handwashing practices among urban households during the COVID-19 in Ghana

Abstract

Abstract

Access to handwashing facilities on the one hand and their effective use on the other are critical in the fight against the spread of water, sanitation, and hygiene-related diseases, including COVID-19. However, access to and effective use of handwashing facilities prior to the COVID-19 was not prioritised in Ghana.  Using an online survey of 4,257 urban households, this study examined access to handwashing facilities, the motivation to acquire such facilities, and their effective utilisation following the introduction of the government of Ghana’s free water delivery as part of measures to combat the pandemic. We employed descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and Pearson correlation to analyse the data. Our findings reveal a significant increase in the construction of handwashing facilities and handwashing frequencies among households, driven by heightened awareness and fear of the COVID-19 infection. About 83.2 percent of households had handwashing facilities. Despite improvement in handwashing practices among 89.13 percent of households with handwashing facilities, disparities persist as 16.8 percent of the households lacked handwashing facilities. The risk of infections among these vulnerable households could impede efforts to maintain hygiene standards during the period due to the communicability of the disease. In terms of post-COVID-19 sustainability of handwashing facilities and practices, female respondents were more likely to sustain them than male respondents. The pandemic underscored hand hygiene's critical importance in spreading infectious diseases and promoting public health. Within the water, sanitation, and hygiene arena, the COVID-19 pandemic leaves a legacy of providing an opportunity and motivating households to promote hand hygiene globally.