When knowing is not enough: The role of goal-setting and monitoring in persistent adoption of WASH practices

Last registered on October 20, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
When knowing is not enough: The role of goal-setting and monitoring in persistent adoption of WASH practices
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014395
Initial registration date
October 03, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
October 07, 2024, 7:21 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
October 20, 2024, 2:41 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
India
Region
North India

Primary Investigator

Name
Ashish Sedai
Affiliation
University of Texas at Arlington
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Debayan Pakrashi
PI Affiliation
Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata
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PI Name
Dil Rahut
PI Affiliation
Asian Development Bank Institute
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PI Name
Tetsushi Sonobe
PI Affiliation
Asian Development Bank Institute
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Rikhia Bhukta
PI Affiliation
Indian Institute of Technology
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2024-10-01
End date
2024-10-02
Keywords
Behavior, Education, Health, Welfare
Additional Keywords
water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices, awareness, habit formation, welfare, maternal and child health.
JEL code(s)
I12, I14, I15, I25
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
The proposed project is organized around a well-designed and rigorous RCT aimed at identifying the role of knowledge dissemination, skills training and regular practice, achieved by goal setting and regularly monitoring whether goals set have been realized. The idea is not only to replace bad habits with good ones but also to maintain them by slow habit formation. This research endeavor encapsulates about 2,000 mother-child dyads hailing from 100 distinct slum clusters situated in the district of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, India. We will focus on mothers aged 18-45 years with a child below five years i.e. the focus will be on starting early or early childhood development (ECD).
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bhukta, Rikhia et al. 2024. "When knowing is not enough: The role of goal-setting and monitoring in persistent adoption of WASH practices." AEA RCT Registry. October 20. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14395-1.1
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
There will be two different treatment arms in the proposed study:

Treatment 1: Information and skills training only (n=600)

Treatment 2: Information and skills training + Monitoring & Goal-setting (n=600)

Control Group (n=800): The remaining 800 mother-child pairs (from 40 slums) will serve as the control group and will not receive any interventions.
Intervention (Hidden)
There will be two different treatment arms in the proposed study:

Treatment 1: Information and skills training only (n=600): 600 mother-child pairs (from 30 slums) selected randomly from a list of 100 slums will be randomly assigned to Treatment 1. This treatment will focus on delivering to these households detailed information on safe hygiene and sanitation practices that can lead to improved health outcomes and reduced disease burden for the child, mother as well as the other household members. The intervention will focus on information dissemination and providing guidelines emphasizing the importance of hand washing frequently; avoiding open defaecation and adopting safe sanitation practices; importance of safe and clean drinking water, cleaning the floors and surfaces regularly; and the adverse effects of mould infestation at home and infection on skin and techniques that can be adopted to eliminate it. As part of this intervention, the targeted individuals will also be briefed about the different products that can purchased from the local market to address these issues. Interestingly, most households will already be using them but our focus will be on the right technique, and effective use. So, this will be a combination of knowledge and skills training via on-site demonstration, so as to train them to use the products regularly and effectively.

Treatment 2: Information and skills training + Monitoring & Goal-setting (n=600): In addition to the information and skills training as provided in Treatment 1, we will also engage the Treatment 2 households in a rigorous self-goal-setting and achieving exercise, with support and regular monitoring (via random visits) from the research team. These households will be provided with continuous support, regular monitoring and comprehensive guidance so that they adopt and continue with these safe and good habits. Households will also be helped and guided to set goals for themselves and achieve them. Thus, treatment 2 will entail a combination of knowledge, skill and desire brought about by information dissemination, skill training and regular practice.

Control Group (n=800): The remaining 800 mother-child pairs (from 40 slums) will serve as the control group and will not receive any interventions. These will be compared to Treatment 1 to find the effectiveness of engaging in the information sessions while comparing the treatment 1 with the treatment 2 households will help us understand the effect of practicing regular and the goal setting exercise. The idea is to achieve regular and persistent use.
Intervention Start Date
2024-10-01
Intervention End Date
2024-10-02

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The main objective of the proposed project is to help understand the major determinants of adopting and maintaining safe wash, sanitation, and hygienic behavior. We will focus on three sets of outcomes here: respondent and child-assessed subjective outcomes; behavioural outcomes (revealed preference for hygienic behaviours and products) and objective outcomes (enumerator assessed or directly collected).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This research endeavor encapsulates about 2,000 mother-child dyads hailing from 100 distinct slum clusters situated in the district of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, India. We will focus on mothers aged 18-45 years with a child below five years. There will be two different treatment arms in the proposed study. In treatment 1, only information and skills training will be provided. In treatment 2, information and skills training + Monitoring & Goal-setting will be done.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Slum
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
100
Sample size: planned number of observations
2000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Number of observations: 600 in treatment 1, 600 in treatment 2, 800 in control
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IIT Kanpur IEC
IRB Approval Date
2023-06-16
IRB Approval Number
IITK/IEC/2023-24/I/38
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
No
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials