Village communities can be considered healthy when the rates of disease infections are low and when community members have easy access to basic services and health care that meet their needs.

There are a number of key elements to a Healthy Homestead: 

1. Space and Ventilation

2. Smoke free cooking environment

3. Safe Water Supply

4. Progressive Vector Control

5. Good sanitation

6. Rubbish disposal

7. Nutrition and Food Supply - Kitchen Garden

8. Improvement of Maternal and Newborn Health

9. Income Generating Activities

Space and Ventilation

• Houses must be well furnished and kept clean.
• Houses must have adequate Natural lighting and ventilation for good air circulation.
• Houses must contain adequate space for the occupants.
• Houses should have proper roofing materials with no leakages.
  

Smoke Free Cooking Environment

• Houses should at least have some improved jikos. (These are either smokeless cookers, or cookers that are connected to a chimney.)

Safe Water Supply

A healthy home must have clean and safe water for domestic use.

• Unsafe water for drinking may result in waterborne diseases such as typhoid, and cholera.
• Community water springs forms part of people’s health status determinant.
• Healthy villages or homes should have 60% of their water sources protected.
• 80% of the households should correctly apply effective water treatment methods. e.g. Boiling, Use of chemicals, Filtration, SODIS (Solar disinfectant)
• At least 50% of the households in the village should have easy access to water supply system.

Progressive Vector Control

• Some insects and animals transmit some diseases, hence there is need to control them from being in contact with human beings.

• All houses in the village should be ensured that they are fully screened especially opening like windows and vent spaces; these control insects like flies and mosquitoes from entering into houses.

• All houses should be treated with Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) – this will help prevent malaria.

• Food stores should be rat proof.

Good sanitation

• A healthy home must get rid of waste
• Every household should have a pit latrine and every family should make use of the latrine.
• Ideal or healthy homesteads latrine coverage should be 80% and above
• Ventilated improved Pit Latrine should be 50% coverage.
• Locally available materials should be used in construction of pit latrines; hand washing facilities must also be provided
• Latrines must always be kept clean.
• 50% of the household must have bathrooms.
• 70% of the households should have dish. racks
• Each household should have clothing hanging line.

Nutrition and Food Supply

• Food nutrition helps people to fight diseases.
• 80% of the households should have kitchen gardens –With fruit and vegetables.
• Food security -60% of the households should have enough food stocks.
• 70% of the household members should have access to clean milk production dairy livestock.

Community Income Generating Activities

• The community in the villages should be having organized groups undertaking different economy viable activities.

With collaboration of different government ministries individual community members should identify any projects or activities

Improvement of Maternal and Newborn Health

• Attention must be given to the health of women, especially pregnant women in the village.
• Healthy homesteads or villages should ensure that more than 80% of expectant mothers attend ANC clinics.
• More than 80% of the women in the village accept and use Family planning methods.
• There should be more than 80% immunization coverage for children under one year in the village.
• Under one year drop out should be less than 10%.
• Within the ideal homesteads there should be a community based rehabilitation centre where all people with disabilities are identified in the village and facilitated to undergo corrective therapy.

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