Understanding water-related emotional distress for improving water services: a case study from an Ethiopian small town

Abstract This paper introduces the concept of emotional distress as a means of measuring the direct experience of inadequate access to drinking water in a small town in Ethiopia under the UNICEF-Government of Ethiopia urban ONEWASH plus programme. The paper explores a new perspective on the relation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of water, sanitation, and hygiene for development Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 196 - 207
Main Authors Thomas, Vincent, Godfrey, Samuel
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London IWA Publishing 01.06.2018
Subjects
Accessibility
Case studies
Diarrhea
Disease
Drinking water
Emotions
Households
Hygiene
Low income groups
Medicine
Mental disorders
Mental health
Population growth
Public health
Sanitation
Social sciences
Stress
Studies
Sustainable development
Sustainable Development Goals
Water costs
Water quality
Water shortages
Water supply
Womens health
New York
Bolivia
United States > US
Ethiopia
India
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Summary:Abstract This paper introduces the concept of emotional distress as a means of measuring the direct experience of inadequate access to drinking water in a small town in Ethiopia under the UNICEF-Government of Ethiopia urban ONEWASH plus programme. The paper explores a new perspective on the relationship between water technologies, water services, household socio-economic characteristics (as predictors) and mental health in its broad definition. Results indicate that water-related emotional distress is predominantly associated with the ‘cost of water’ and the ‘size of household’. Quantity of water, reliability of the preferred source and accessibility were not significant predictors to emotional distress. Whether the household accessed a pipe into a compound or another improved source was not a significant predictor either. The safely managed target in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.1 focuses on the affordability, accessibility and safety of water but does not explore the relation between cost and water-related emotional distress. This evidence offers a complementary approach to the ‘affordability of water services’ as it looks beyond the mere financial implications of water costs.
ISSN:2043-9083
2408-9362
DOI:10.2166/washdev.2018.167