The Effect of Education Based on the Health Belief Model on the Promotion of Sanitary Wastewater Disposal Behavior

Background. Disposal of non-sanitary wastewater in rural areas contaminates surface water, groundwater, and soil resulting in unpleasant landscapes and an ideal environment for the growth and propagation of various types of insects and rodents. This study aimed to investigate the effect of education based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) on the promotion of sanitary wastewater disposal behaviors of rural residents.
Methods. This interventional study was conducted on 72 heads of rural households in Aq-Qala, Iran. Two similar villages in the area were selected and divided into experimental and control groups through simple random allocation. Then, 36 heads of households were selected from each village. Data were collected before and after the intervention through a reliable and valid HBM questionnaire. Paired samples t-test, Wilcoxon, independent samples t-test, and Mann-Whitney test were used to analyze the data using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.
Results. Prior to the intervention, there was no significant difference between two groups in terms of knowledge, HBM constructs, behavior, and demographic characteristics (P>0.05). After the intervention, the mean score of knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and self-efficacy increased significantly, while the mean score of perceived barriers decreased significantly in the experimental group (P<0.05). However, no significant difference was found in the mean score of behavior (P>0.05).
Conclusion. The educational intervention was effective in promoting knowledge and HBM constructs, but was not effective in wastewater disposal behavior. Considering that the construction of absorption wells is costly, inter-sectoral cooperation between village councils is recommended in addition to increasing the number of training sessions.