Challenges and Strategies for Household Infectious Waste Management: A Qualitative Study

Background and

Production of household infectious waste is a constant concern and problem in home medical care services. Considering the increase of household infectious waste in recent years, this study was conducted with the aim of identifying strategies to improve the management of this type of waste.

This qualitative study was conducted using the content analysis method. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 experts in the field of waste management. These people were selected purposefully. Four criteria of acceptability, confirmability, dependability, and transferability by Guba and Lincoln were used to ensure the consistency and accuracy of the results. Data classification was done using MAXQDA2018 software. The data collection period was from 22 November 2023 to 21 January 2023.

Data analysis showed 13 main topics, including: education and culture, management measures, provision of resources, social and legal support, technology, control and evaluation, waste generation, collection, temporary storage, transportation, processing, disposal, and management challenges; and 30 subtopics.

The results of the present study identified different strategies for improving the methods of household infectious waste management in Iran based on the experiences of the participants. This could be a crucial step towards addressing the challenges and achieving better outcomes in the management of these wastes.