Report summary of WELL Task No. 515

Environmental health promotion capacity building:

a training guide based on CARE's hygiene promotion manual

Author: Joy Morgan, October 2001

Editor:

This manual is a practical manual on hygiene promotion for relief and development workers. The manual was developed with the support of CARE International after demand from its staff for guidance on how to implement promotion in emergencies. It is principally aimed at fieldworkers on programmes with a stated aim to reduce water and sanitation-related diseases. However, due to the wide number of approaches adopted towards hygiene promotion in this manual, the term hygiene promotion is used here in its wider context to be almost synonymous with environmental health promotion. As a result, the manual is also appropriate for community development, engineering and health workers involved in relief, rehabilitation and development work, in both rural and urban settings. The method underpinning promotion in this manual entails a commitment to a collaborative approach and the empowerment of people over factors that influence their lives. The training course described in this manual is designed to build capacity rather than merely provide information to participants.

CARE International commissioned the prototype of this training course in January 2001, as an environmental health training workshop lasting 10 days, and based around the hygiene promotion manual. There were 23 participants. Seven facilitators were used and e-conferencing as well. The training course is organised on the principle of high participation and experience-based learning. The only restriction on using this manual is that participants should have some experience in environmental heath

Facilitators should have commitment to participatory learning. Also, the course should be run with a relevant project nearby so as to provide hands-on training. The course is best run at a residential venue, thereby allowing participants to work in the evenings. Course length is flexible depending on venue and educational level of participants. Two evaluation methods are suggested: daily feedback system in which two participants act as volunteers and gather participant’s views on the good and the bad. This information should be used to change subsequent days. The second method is end-of-course evaluation with a view to providing input to improve subsequent training workshops. A ‘facilitator skills set’ is provided as well as a course timetable.

The training course is made up of seven training modules. These are as outlined below. Each is presented with a summary of content for the module.

Introduction to environmental health – This module begins with a definition of environmental health. It then moves on to a discussion of factors affecting peoples’ environmental health practices. Other sections are on the components of an environmental health programme, a comparison of participants’ projects against a ‘model’ environmental health promotion and finally, an introductory talk about the health promotion manual.
Assessment – This module starts with an Introductory talk on assessment. The next section is on environmental health indicators followed by a practical session, and ends with choosing data collection tools.
Planning – This module starts with a section on problem trees and prioritisation. A section follows on developing problem trees, then logframes, and it ends with an examination of resources and scheduling.
Implementation – This module starts with an introduction to implementation. It is followed by a session on developing a model environmental health promotion, reviewing environmental health promotions and finally ends with guided discussions on participants’ own projects.
Monitoring and review – This module starts with an introductory talk about monitoring. A section on reviewing community monitoring in own projects follows and finally, a section on defining sustainability.
Community action planning – This module starts with an introductory talk about community action planning. It is followed by sections on the sequence of events for planning, a ‘live’ community action planning practical, a review of this and finally, a section on planning for community consultation and action.
Personal action planning – The concluding module is a summary of the course, with sections on sharing recommendations, evaluation and finally certification.

The manual ends with annexes in which the components of an environmental health programme are summarised. Other annexes are provided on developing problem trees, a list of tools for environmental health data collection, questions on implementation of EH promotion in a project, in-depth project discussion guides, suggested icebreakers and energisers and filler exercises.

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