A hierarchical Bayesian Belief Network model of household water treatment behaviour in a suburban area: A case study of Palu—Indonesia

Abstract

Understanding the determinants of household water treatment (HWT) behavior in developing countries is important to increase the rate of its regular use so that households can have safe water at home. This is especially so when the quality of the water source is not reliable. We present a hierarchical Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) model supported by statistical analysis to explore the influence of household’s socio-economic characteristics (SECs) on the HWT behavior via household’s psychological factors. The model uses eight SECs, such as mother’s and father’s education, wealth, and religion, and five RANAS psychological factors, i.e., risk, attitude, norms, ability, and self-regulation to analyse HWT behavior in a suburban area in Palu, Indonesia. Structured household interviews were conducted among 202 households. We found that mother’s education is the most important SEC that influences the regular use of HWT. An educated mother has more positive attitude towards HWT and is more confident in her ability to perform HWT. Moreover, self-regulation, especially the attempt to deal with any barrier that hinders HWT practice, is the most important psychological factor that can change irregular HWT users to regular HWT users. Hence, this paper recommends to HWT-program implementers to identify potential barriers and discuss potential solutions with the target group in order to increase the probability of the target group being a regular HWT user.

Interaction of Factors Influencing the Sustainability of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Services in Rural Indonesia: Evidence from Small Surveys of WASH-Related Stakeholders in Indonesia

“…This means that the accumulation of positive social conditions among the community will increase the sustainability of WASH services. Examples of positive social conditions are a supportive community, positive perceptions or attitudes towards the services, a high sense of ownership, and a high level of community participation [36][37][38][39]. On the other hand, sustained and well-functioning WASH services will then influence back the social conditions, e.g., the community is content with the services [40].…”

Household Water Treatment Practice and Associated Factors in Gibe District Southern Ethiopia: A Community Based Cross-Sectional Study

“…[13][14][15][16] Even though the benefit of household water treatment practice to decrease the risk of enteric infection is well understood in different studies, there are 2 Environmental Health Insights different hurdles that prevent consistent practice; which includes psychosocial, contextual, and technology-related factors. [17][18][19] According to a study based on 67 national surveys, 33.0% of households in these countries treat their drinking water at home and the most common method of household water treatment is boiling, which is used by 21.0% of the study households (598 million people). The practice is more common in the Western Pacific (66.8%) and Southeast Asia (45.4%) regions, while it is less common in the Eastern Mediterranean (13.6%) and Africa (18.2%).…”

“… 13 - 16 Even though the benefit of household water treatment practice to decrease the risk of enteric infection is well understood in different studies, there are different hurdles that prevent consistent practice; which includes psychosocial, contextual, and technology-related factors. 17 - 19 …”

Household Water Treatment Practice and Associated Factors in Rural Households of Sodo Zuria District, Southern Ethiopia: Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

“… 11 - 14 Even though the benefit of household water treatment practice to decrease the risk of enteric infection is well understood in different studies, there are different hurdles that prevent consistent practice; which include psychosocial, contextual, and technology-related factors. 15 , 16 …”