Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln

 

Date of this Version

Winter 12-19-2019

Abstract

Open defecation (OD) has devastating consequences for public health (UNICEF, 2018). In Indonesia, despite OD practice has been steadily decreasing in the last ten years, about 25 million people continue to practice OD in 2019. The study aimed to identify sources of sanitation and hygiene information received by riverside villagers, to identify defecation practiced by riverside villagers, and to examine the correlation between sources of information received with their defecation practice. Using a descriptive quantitative approach, data was collected from Sumberjaya village, a village under a sub-district having the highest OD rate in Malang Regency. A set of questionnaire was distributed to 90 households’ heads owning access to latrines. The collected data was analyzed using frequency distribution and Pearson’s correlation. Findings showed that 50% of respondents viewed OD in rivers was a safe practice as long the rivers flowed swiftly, as a result despite having latrines access 51% of respondents practiced OD in flowing rivers. Hence, sanitation and hygiene promotion needs to emphasize the impact of OD in water sources for human health and environmental hygiene. Information sources accessed by respondents were TV (68.9%), healthcare worker (54.4%), health cadre (50%), social media (38.9%), and book (11%). All sources were found significantly associated with people’s awareness in accessing latrine but health cadres. Mass sources (except book) tended to have stronger association with recommended practice than interpersonal sources. That health cadres associated negatively with recommended practice meant their credibility needed to be improved as their frequency in being sources reached to 50%.

Share

COinS