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Water Source Preferences and Water Quality Perceptions among Women in the Eastern Region, Ghana: A Grounded Theory Study
Residents in the Eastern Region, Ghana with access to improved water sources (e.g., boreholes and covered wells) often choose to collect water from unimproved sources (e.g., rivers and uncovered wells). To assess why, we conducted two field studies to coincide with Ghana’s rainy and dry seasons. Dur...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6843409/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31614511 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16203835 |
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author | Chew, Jhanel F. Corlin, Laura Ona, Fernando Pinto, Sarah Fenyi-Baah, Esther Osei, Bernard G. Gute, David M. |
author_facet | Chew, Jhanel F. Corlin, Laura Ona, Fernando Pinto, Sarah Fenyi-Baah, Esther Osei, Bernard G. Gute, David M. |
author_sort | Chew, Jhanel F. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Residents in the Eastern Region, Ghana with access to improved water sources (e.g., boreholes and covered wells) often choose to collect water from unimproved sources (e.g., rivers and uncovered wells). To assess why, we conducted two field studies to coincide with Ghana’s rainy and dry seasons. During the rainy season, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews among a convenience sample of 26 women in four rural communities (including one woman in the dry season). We asked each participant about their attitudes and perceptions of water sources. During the dry season, we observed four women for ≤4 days each to provide context for water collection and water source choice. We used a grounded theory approach considering the multiple household water sources and uses approach to identify three themes informing water source choice: collection of and access to water, water quality perception, and the dynamic interaction of these. Women selected water sources based on multiple factors, including season, accessibility, religious/spiritual messaging, community messaging (e.g., health risks), and ease-of-use (e.g., physical burden). Gender and power dynamics created structural barriers that affected the use of unimproved water sources. A larger role for women in water management and supply decision-making could advance population health goals. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6843409 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-68434092019-11-25 Water Source Preferences and Water Quality Perceptions among Women in the Eastern Region, Ghana: A Grounded Theory Study Chew, Jhanel F. Corlin, Laura Ona, Fernando Pinto, Sarah Fenyi-Baah, Esther Osei, Bernard G. Gute, David M. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Residents in the Eastern Region, Ghana with access to improved water sources (e.g., boreholes and covered wells) often choose to collect water from unimproved sources (e.g., rivers and uncovered wells). To assess why, we conducted two field studies to coincide with Ghana’s rainy and dry seasons. During the rainy season, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews among a convenience sample of 26 women in four rural communities (including one woman in the dry season). We asked each participant about their attitudes and perceptions of water sources. During the dry season, we observed four women for ≤4 days each to provide context for water collection and water source choice. We used a grounded theory approach considering the multiple household water sources and uses approach to identify three themes informing water source choice: collection of and access to water, water quality perception, and the dynamic interaction of these. Women selected water sources based on multiple factors, including season, accessibility, religious/spiritual messaging, community messaging (e.g., health risks), and ease-of-use (e.g., physical burden). Gender and power dynamics created structural barriers that affected the use of unimproved water sources. A larger role for women in water management and supply decision-making could advance population health goals. MDPI 2019-10-11 2019-10 /pmc/articles/PMC6843409/ /pubmed/31614511 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16203835 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Chew, Jhanel F. Corlin, Laura Ona, Fernando Pinto, Sarah Fenyi-Baah, Esther Osei, Bernard G. Gute, David M. Water Source Preferences and Water Quality Perceptions among Women in the Eastern Region, Ghana: A Grounded Theory Study |
title | Water Source Preferences and Water Quality Perceptions among Women in the Eastern Region, Ghana: A Grounded Theory Study |
title_full | Water Source Preferences and Water Quality Perceptions among Women in the Eastern Region, Ghana: A Grounded Theory Study |
title_fullStr | Water Source Preferences and Water Quality Perceptions among Women in the Eastern Region, Ghana: A Grounded Theory Study |
title_full_unstemmed | Water Source Preferences and Water Quality Perceptions among Women in the Eastern Region, Ghana: A Grounded Theory Study |
title_short | Water Source Preferences and Water Quality Perceptions among Women in the Eastern Region, Ghana: A Grounded Theory Study |
title_sort | water source preferences and water quality perceptions among women in the eastern region, ghana: a grounded theory study |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6843409/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31614511 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16203835 |
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