Abstract
Advancements in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions have improved the health and well-being of communities globally. Despite this success, a major disease burden attributed to unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and improper hygiene practices remains. There was little evidence of adequate research pertaining to WASH interventions deployed in rural, socioeconomically at risk populations in Latin America. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore best practices used by the program leaders of a Midwestern University Latin American Studies Institute (MULASI) sponsored water quality program realized in collaboration with a Dominican Republic Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to educate adults about the importance of water supply integrity, sanitation, and hygiene to the health of the community. The study was guided by the research question: what are the most effective instructional techniques used to educate the communities served by the Program during a clean water project implementation and maintenance initiative. Qualitative data was collected using an interview protocol, document reviews, and observation. The population interviewed included several university and NGO program staff members. The aim of this study was to identify best practices in educating socioeconomically at risk populations about water|supply integrity, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and then use those best practices to design a WASH education intervention model that could be implemented globally. As a result of the analysis of findings an Integrated WASH Education Intervention Model was developed to guide intervention leaders through the planning, implementation, and sustainment of the WASH intervention.|Keywords: adult learning theory, WASH, health cooperator, point of use water filter