Peer-reviewed article
Provision of basic swimming and water safety skills in low-resource environments: barriers and facilitators of use of WHO practical guidance.
Mecrow T, Fortuin Abrahams J, Said M, Baker S, Bonney J et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined barriers and facilitators to implementing WHO guidance on swimming and water safety skills in low-resource settings across 13 countries. Researchers identified four areas needing additional technical guidance: site safety auditing, medical screening, informed consent, and emergency action planning. Key barriers included lack of trained personnel, equipment, and community understanding, while opportunities lay in partnering with local organisations and improving programme administration. The study recommends developing additional technical resources and a community of practice to support implementation.
Key points
- Four topic areas require additional technical guidance: Site Safety Auditing, Medical Screening of Participants, Informed Consent, and Emergency Action Planning
- Barriers include lack of trained personnel and equipment, as well as lack of community understanding and varying external agency support
- Facilitators include partnering with local organisations with specific expertise, improving programme administration, and challenging traditional community practices
- Study involved 17 participants from 13 countries using mixed methods including gap analysis, surveys, and thematic analysis of workshop discussions
- Participants agreed the workshop would lead to changes in practice, though this remained to be confirmed at time of publication
Limitations
The study identifies barriers and facilitators but does not measure actual outcomes of swimming and water safety skills interventions or confirm whether workshop participation led to sustained practice changes. Countries involved are not specified in the abstract, limiting understanding of which low-resource settings were represented.
Abstract
Introduction WHO guidance supports implementation of drowning prevention interventions. This study aimed to examine barriers and facilitators of use of WHO guidance on basic swimming and water safety skills in low-resource settings, gathering insights inform codesign of technical resources. Methods Mixed methods were used comprising WHO guidance gap analysis, participant surveys and thematic analysis of workshop discussions (17 participants and 13 countries). WHO document analysis and analysis of pre-workshop survey responses were combined to identify topic areas where additional guidance was required. Inductive thematic analysis of workshop discussions spanned current practice, challenges and opportunities. Postworkshop anonymous evaluation forms were also analysed. Results Four topic areas were identified that required additional technical guidance to support implementation: Site Safety Auditing; Medical Screening of Participants; Informed Consent and Emergency Action Planning. Barriers broadly spanned a lack of trained personnel and equipment as well as a lack of community understanding and varying support from external agencies. Opportunities identified included partnering with local organisations with specific expertise (ie, medical, emergency planning), improving programme administration and challenging traditional community practices (ie, informed consent, superstitions). Participants agreed the workshop would lead to changes in practice, however this remains to be confirmed. Discussion Additional technical resources to address gaps and support implementation were suggested and should now be developed, implemented and evaluated. Conclusion This study identified additional technical resources and the development of a community of practice to support effective teaching of school age children swimming and water safety skills in low-resource settings.