From 31st March to 4th April 2025, the WASHTED’s NIHR research team under Work Strand 4 (WS4), convened in Mulanje for a five-day intervention development workshop. The workshop aimed to design evidence-based behaviour change interventions targeting key WASH-related practices among adolescents, informed by findings from formative research and co-design sessions with the Youth Technical Working group, district and community level stakeholders.
The specific objectives of the workshop were to:
- Introduce and apply behavioural frameworks (COM-B and RANAS) to structure interventions; and
- Develop practical intervention packages for selected behaviours including hand hygiene, smearing of faeces on latrine walls, and open defecation.
The workshop brought together 13 participants, including the project lead, co-Principal Investigator. Across five structured days, the participants engaged in a systematic process that included reviewing research findings, developing interventions in groups and iterative presentations for peer feedback. The final outputs included tailored intervention packages targeting both in-school and out-of-school adolescents in Mchinji and Blantyre districts.
Key outcomes of the workshop included:
- Clear intervention strategies for three main WASH problems: hand hygiene and sanitation in schools, and community-level sanitation;
- Practical integration of behavioural frameworks – Capability, Opportunity and Motivation (COM-B) and Risks, Attitudes, Norms, Abilities and Self-regulation (RANAS) – into the intervention design process.
- Strengthened collaboration and shared understanding among researchers and stakeholders.
The next steps include finalizing intervention designs, developing implementation and monitoring plans, and further stakeholder engagement to ensure contextual relevance and sustainability.
