Behavior change interventions regarding WASH and its impacts on sustainable community development: A study of district Gujrat, Pakistan

Abstract

Behavior change interventions are fundamental to achieve sustainability in communities through the identification of new, and strengthening the existing positive practices. It is considered central to the quest for sustainable future and solves multidimensional community problems, which require large scale shift in human behavior with regard to their health, social, physical activities and long held habits. Individual behavior is non-linear and unpredictable complex system, with diversity of agents in the living environment. Numerous aspects of life such as health conditions, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices among others are at the core of behavior change interventions. The complexities of communities are multilayered and cannot be addressed with single approach, but need integrated interventions with indigenous knowledge of socio-economic, cultural, traditional, religious factors, and available resources at community level. In this context, the study examines the role of behavior change interventions with the help of integrated behavior model for water and sanitation hygiene (IBM-WASH). IBM-WASH is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) which explains the interdependence among individual behavior and actions. The primary data was collected from district Gujrat (Pakistan) through stratified random sampling. The hypotheses were tested with smartPLS software. Findings revealed that the behavior change interventions regarding WASH have significant impacts on sustainable community development.