Translating Information into Action: A Public Health Experiment in Bangladesh

Last registered on August 17, 2021
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Translating Information into Action: A Public Health Experiment in Bangladesh
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0008074
Initial registration date
August 15, 2021

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
August 17, 2021, 2:02 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Bangladesh
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Reshmaan Hussam
Affiliation
Harvard Business School
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Abu Shonchoy
PI Affiliation
Florida International Universiity
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Chikako Yamauchi
PI Affiliation
GRIPS
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Kailash Pandey
PI Affiliation
HBS
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2017-03-01
End date
2018-05-01
Keywords
Education, Health
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
While standard models of technology adoption posit learning as the basis of behavior change, information campaigns in public health frequently fail to change behavior. We design a scalable information campaign embedding hand-hygiene edutainment within popular dramas using mobile phones, randomly distributed to poor households in rural Bangladesh. We measure changes in hygiene knowledge, behavior, and child health, and use machine learning techniques with minute-level data on edutainment exposure and handwashing to better understand the patterns of information exposure that may translate to behavior change.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Hussam, Reshmaan et al. 2021. "Translating Information into Action: A Public Health Experiment in Bangladesh." AEA RCT Registry. August 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8074-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We design a scalable edutainment campaign using existing public service announcements (PSAs) on hand hygiene. The campaign embeds existing Bengali hand hygiene edutainment within a series of popular dramas and movies and distributes call-disabled smartphones with preloaded SD cards. We disable the calling/network capabilities to focus the intervention on the preloaded edutainment. Enumerators deliver SD cards with new dramas and cartoons (but similar edutainment content) to all treatment households once per month.
Intervention Start Date
2017-04-01
Intervention End Date
2017-11-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Hygiene knowledge, handwashinig behavior, child health (symptoms of ARI and diarrhea)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
333 households randomly divided into a control group (50%) and a treatment group (50%). All households in sample receive handsoap dispensers equipped with soap and sensors to track handwashing behavior. Treated households additionally receive a call-disabled smartphone and SD cards with entertainment and edutainment content, renewed monthly.



Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by computer
Randomization Unit
Household
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
333 Households
Sample size: planned number of observations
333 Households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
166 control households, 167 treatment households
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials