Background
malaria, deaths
MALARIA, MALARIA
Malaria remains a major health challenge across the globe contributing to over 500,000 deaths in 2020 [With promising results from intervention trials, strategies should be developed to support the uptake of and adherence to housing modifications. Acceptability studies are an important first step in understanding community responses to interventions. Studies have shown that screening (doors, windows, or ceilings) in the Gambia [While important, the policy relevance of these studies is limited. They rely on definitions of acceptability created by researchers or programme managers rather than the recipients themselves and rarely go beyond an interest in the physical properties of the modifications [Holistic, ethnographic accounts of the experiences and interpretations of the recipients of housing modifications can provide these critical contextual maps for policy makers. This paper provides an account of a pilot study, which was conducted to assess the feasibility of introducing four types of housing modifications to combat malaria from the perspective of household residents. Drawing on focus group discussions (FGDs), ethnographic observations, and key informant interviews, it explores how forms of land ownership, challenges and changes in the local economy, and cultural and spiritual practices shaped the experience and interpretation of housing modifications in three villages in Jinja, Uganda.