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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...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Chew, Jhanel F., Corlin, Laura, Ona, Fernando, Pinto, Sarah, Fenyi-Baah, Esther, Osei, Bernard G., Gute, David M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
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.
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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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