Performance of community health clubs in transforming sanitation and hygiene conditions

A case - control study was conducted in Rwanda on the performance of the Community Health Club (CHC) approach in transforming household sanitation and hygiene conditions. We selected two villages from a rural setting (Rusizi) and two villages from peri urban setting (Kicukiro). In both settings, we had one intervention village (case) with CHC approach as exposure, and one control village with no CHC approach exposure. We conducted household surveys in 798 households (95%) with spot observations. Focus group discussions and interviews with village members, local leaders, sanitation professionals and opinion leaders were conducted too in both settings 3 years after CHC implementation (2015). The baseline data on sanitation and hygiene collected from local offices (2012) helped to assess the contribution of the approach. The results show that CHC approach implementation is associated with households’ sanitation and hygiene practices improvement 3 years after the intervention in Kicukiro and Rusizi districts