A scoping review on community mobilisation for maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa: Impact on empowerment

Abstract

This review integrates evidence on community mobilisation (CM) for maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to identify the impact on empowerment. For the purposes of this review we use the following definition of CM: 'a capacity-building process through which community members, groups or organizations plan, carry out and evaluate activities on a participatory and sustained basis to improve their health and other conditions, either on their own initiative or stimulated by others', [Howard-Grabman, L., Storti, C., Hummer, P., Pooler, B., & Geneva: USAID (2007). Demystifying community mobilization: An effective strategy to improve maternal and newborn health. Retrieved from http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/pnadi338.pdf, p. 5]. A scoping review was chosen to conduct a search and analysis of the literature due to the broad, complex nature of the topic. The search yielded 136 articles, and 19 met the inclusion criteria. This review illustrates CM as an important research process for engaging the community, ensuring that interventions are meeting the needs of the community, take context into account and are sustainable. Community mobilisation was associated with positive behaviour change and/or health outcomes. However, community mobilisation was not defined or operationalised consistently among the identified studies. Empowerment was also not defined, measured, or reported on in the articles. This review provides recommendations for the reporting of CM and its influence on empowerment in communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Understanding the healthcare provider response to sexual violence in Ghana: A situational analysis

“…This might include developing a Community Advisory Board, seeking support from Chiefs and leaders in the community, and working with the government to influence policy [32]. Past research in the maternal health arena has successfully utilized community mobilization principles to create interventions within communities that are acceptable, sustainable, and impact health outcomes [34,35]. This type of community buy-in and support at the local and national level is necessary to overcome victim-blaming and structural barriers that impede access to post-assault services.…”

Social accountability for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health: A review of reviews

“…There are several well-conducted reviews of community engagement, mobilisation, and participation, as well as human rights-based approaches to RMNCAH, which have significant overlap with accountability approaches [43][44][45][46][60][61][62]. Similarly, findings on accountability initiatives from outside the RMNCAH field can enhance our understanding of effective approaches that could be applied to RMNCAH [23,[29][30][31]33,36,[63][64][65][66][67][68]. In particular, lessons could be drawn on the conceptualisation and measurement of "empowerment," which though often listed as an individual or collective outcome of social accountability approaches, appears to be infrequently operationalized, and poorly described in existing research [69,70].…”

Mothers’ Experiences and Perceptions of Facility-based Delivery Care in Rural Ethiopia

“…Although women are generally satisfied with their care, many studies have identified barriers such as disrespect, neglect, abuse (often, verbal abuse), 12 , 20 - 23 and women’s limited decision-making power. 18 , 24 - 27 Few studies have explored women’s experiences in the context of childbirth in primary healthcare facilities, and women’s descriptions of their experiences after using delivery ward services are even scarcer. This study aims to learn about women’s birthing experiences and their thoughts about important aspects of delivery care in professionally staffed healthcare facilities.…”