Visits to a home are prioritized based on:
- interest,
- family size,
- number of young children,
- neighborhood disease rates, and
- local government input.
In Tanzania, women are typically in charge of WASH-related activities such as water fetching, cooking, cleaning, and bathing. This makes them the most crucial stakeholders in disease prevention. Educating women empowers them to become change makers in their homes and leaders in their communities.
For these reasons, CHEs meet with primarily female heads of households to assess their family’s WASH situation. Lessons are tailored to the specific needs of each family, but general topics include:
- the economic benefits of preventing diseases,
- water treatment and storage,
- toilet use,
- handwashing,
- fecal-oral disease cycle,
- food preparation and storage,
- bilharzia,
- personal hygiene, and
- other neglected tropical diseases.
Based on initial assessments and rates of progress, CHEs meet with families three to five times over six to 10 weeks. Within the following year, CHEs will revisit families to ensure that good habits are sustained.
Home visits provide each household with equal attention and access to lifesaving information. They also foster personal relationships between CHEs and participants. If residents have any questions following the visits, they know there is a friendly face or hotline ready to help. Building trust, confidence, and community is the way to stop disease from continuing.
