Citizen Science for Malaria Control in Rwanda: Engagement, Motivation, and Behaviour Change
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| Publicado en: | PQDT - Global (2020) |
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ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
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| Acceso en línea: | Citation/Abstract Full Text - PDF Full text outside of ProQuest |
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| Resumen: | Malaria continues to be a major public health problem around the world, and most prominently on the African continent, with Sub-Saharan Africa carrying the largest burden of malaria. Currently, the World Health Organization calls for malaria control interventions that leave no one behind with the aim to realize a malaria-free world. Consequently, engaging community members in malaria control interventions is crucial for malaria elimination in many countries including Rwanda. However, very little is known about how people can be engaged in malaria control, and how this engagement could, in turn, affect the consistent use of malaria control measures. This thesis used an integrated model of determinants of malaria preventive behaviour with the objective to explore the factors that influence the consistent use of malaria control measures, and investigated how a citizen science program for malaria control could contribute to this use. Specifically, the study designed and implemented a citizen science program and investigated the motivational factors, barriers, and effects of this program on the use of malaria control measures.A mixed-methods approach was used in four different phases (baseline, design, follow-up, and evaluation) with a citizen science program. This program involved collecting mosquitoes using a handmade trap, reporting mosquito nuisance and confirmed malaria cases using a paperbased form. The first phase involved the development and testing of an integrated model of determinants of malaria preventive behaviour to enhance our understanding of the interrelationships between factors that influence individuals to participate in a citizen science platform and use malaria preventive measures (Chapter 2). In Chapter 3, this integrated model was tested. The objective of Chapter 3 was to assess the relationships between individual perceptions and the intentions to use malaria preventive measures. The study was carried out in the sectors of Ruhuha and Busoro, Rwanda into two phases. Phase one involved a questionnaire survey whereas phase two employed a qualitative approach. The results indicated that the individual perceptions partially explain behavioural intentions to consistently use malaria control measures, and leave room for other factors that play a significant role in the use of malaria preventive and control measures. Other factors include organization that involves careful assessment of the collective management of mosquito breeding sites at the community level. The chapter highlighted three strategies that can be used to promote the consistent use of malaria preventive and control measures, these include access to LLINs and regular spraying activities, community mobilization, and citizen engagement in malaria control activities.The second phase elaborated on the co-design process that was employed to engage citizens in malaria control through the citizen science program (Chapter 4). The co-design was conducted through participatory design workshops and involved recruitment of participants in five villages of Ruhuha sector, Rwanda. The results showed that following the involvement of citizens in a co-design process, we arrived at different decisions that we did not always foresee. Community members have their preferences and choices related to the tools to collect citizen science data (mosquito species, mosquito nuisance, and confirmed malaria cases), as well as an organizational structure (for example frequency of reporting, selecting representatives to gather and submit the reports). These choices demonstrate that citizens have context-specific knowledge and skills. Consequently, involving them in the design of a program and considering their preferences facilitated the implementation of the program and retention of volunteers. Finally, a high level of recruitment, participation, and retention showed that a citizen science program is feasible in areas with limited ICT tools.Volunteers may participate in a citizen science program because of different reasons, and through participation they may encounter different challenges that need to be addressed to retain them. A third phase, therefore, included monitoring of the citizen science program to retain volunteers (Chapter 5). Chapter 5 explored the motivational factors and barriers at different points in the lifetime of a citizen science program on malaria control. A qualitative approach was used and involved 44 interviews of which 30 were volunteers of the citizen science program, and 14 were non-volunteers who attended participatory design workshops used to recruit the volunteers, but decided not to join the program. The findings revealed that there is a change in motivation over time. Desire to learn about and contribute to malaria control motivated people to join the program and start participating. Although these motivations were also present for the subsequent phase of participation, however, other factors including recognition and acknowledgment of volunteers’ contributions motivated volunteers to stay involved in the project. Comparing motivational factors among age and gender groups, the results revealed that young volunteers and women were more motivated to join the program because of curiosity and desire to learn new things. However, in general, adult volunteers and men were motivated by contribution to malaria control. This indicates that in a citizen science program, target groups may require different recruitment and retention approaches. Thus, future citizen science projects may consider using different messages at different stages of participation to maximize the recruitment, participation, and retention of volunteers. Barriers encountered include the pressure to report observations (mainly collection of mosquitoes) and low perceived efficacy of the handmade trap. The motivational factors and barriers reported in this study should be considered in citizen science projects to know how to approach community members at what stage of participation in citizen science.Although the retention of volunteers is important, an assessment should also be conducted to monitor and explore the impact of the program on community members. Phase four assessed the effect of the citizen science program for malaria control (Chapter 6). It involved an evaluation of the benefits of the program to those who are directly involved in the collection and reporting of citizen science data and other community members who are not directly involved. A mixed-method approach was used and included a questionnaire survey, dissemination workshops, and village meetings. The results showed that individual perceptions in general and malaria-related behaviour improved significantly over time (between 2017 and 2019). Comparing the individual perceptions and malaria-related behaviour between volunteers and non-volunteers, a significant difference was observed only for the perceived self-efficacy. However, it was apparent that volunteers interact with others and participate in malaria-related activities more than non-volunteers. Both volunteers and non-volunteers gained knowledge and skills about the use of malaria control measures in general and mosquito species in particular among volunteers. The reported knowledge among non-volunteers shows the diffusion of project-related information. Consequently, this shows that a citizen science program has the potential to not only engage those who are directly involved in the collection and submission of citizen science data but also improves community health by addressing public health problems.Overall, the results of this thesis clearly showed that the achievement of malaria control needs consideration of both individual and collective factors. To facilitate this, citizens need to be engaged in malaria control interventions. A high participation and retention rate observed throughout the project (one year), clearly demonstrated that the implementation of a citizen science program in areas with limited technology is feasible. However, the citizens’ preferences should be considered during the design process, and their motivations and barriers should be identified and addressed during the program to enhance the retention rate. The benefits of the program are not only limited to those who are directly involved in the program, but there is diffusion of information and benefits of the program to other community members. The citizen science data submitted by the volunteers provide localized information about mosquito density and its relationship with mosquito nuisance. This, in turn, may foster localized and targeted malaria control interventions and this program is likely to improve the consistent use of malaria preventive and control measures. Therefore, I conclude that this citizen science program has a potential contribution to malaria control in Rwanda. Thus, it can complement the existing active surveillance and may be considered by the National Malaria Control Program. |
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| ISBN: | 9798516046414 |
| Fuente: | ABI/INFORM Global |