Diarrhoeal disease: knowledge, attitudes and practices in an aboriginal community

This study was carried out in an Australian Aboriginal community in South Australia on the knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to diarrhoeal disease. Suggestions were sought on appropriate interventions. Dietary causes (including alcohol), factors relating to drinking water, poor environmental hygiene, infective agents and teething were considered by community member to be important in the causation of diarrhoea. Poor personal and domestic hygiene, and the lack of adequate bathing, toilet and laundry facilities were not considered to be important contributory factors. This may reflect the Aboriginal view of hygiene derived from many years of desert living as nomadic hunter-gatherers. The study provides valuable information to enable the selection of appropriate interventions for the control of diarrhoeal disease in this community.