Community engagement and mobilisation of local resources to support integrated Community Case Management of childhood illnesses in Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background Despite strong evidence of integrated community case management (iCCM) of childhood illnesses being a proven intervention for reducing childhood morbidity and mortality, sustainability remains a challenge in most settings. Community ownership and contribution are important factors in sustainability. The purpose of this study was to document the process and scale achieved for community engagement and mobilisation to foster ownership, service uptake and sustainability of iCCM activities. Methods A review of data collected by the RAcE project was conducted to describe the scale and achievement of leveraging community resources to support the community-oriented resource persons (CORPs). The Rapid Access Expansion (RAcE)-supported iCCM programme in Niger state (2014-2017), aimed at improving coverage of case management services for malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea, among children aged 2–59 months. Resources donated were documented and costed based on the market value of goods and services at the time of donation. These monetary valuations were validated at community dialogue meetings. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise quantitative variables. The mean of the number of CORPs in active service and the percentages of the mobilised resources received by CORPs were calculated. Results The community engagement activities included 143 engagement and advocacy visits, and meetings, 300 community dialogues, reactivation of 60 ward development committees, and 3000 radio messages in support of iCCM. 79.5% of 1659 trained CORPs were still in active iCCM service at the end of the project. We estimated the costs of all support provided by the community to CORPs in cash and kind as US$ 123 062. Types of support included cash; building materials; farming support; fuel for motorcycles, and transport fares. Conclusions The achievements of community engagement, mobilisation, and the resources leveraged, demonstrated acceptability of the project to the beneficiaries and their willingness to contribute to uninterrupted service provision by CORPs.

A community engagement strategy to sustain safe drinking water in Guatemala

“…In the future, qualitative inquiry would give further insight into these findings. The finding of CE in the form of a monetary contribution suggests the sustainability of water filters as also found in Cha et al (2017) and Alegbeleye et al (2019).…”

“…Specifically, the investigators found that community‐trained volunteers successfully increased donations and improved use of local resources. Authors reported that raising donations were “signs of community ownership, which, if encouraged, will enhance sustainability of the project” (Alegbeleye et al., 2019, p. 8).…”

“…One year later, childhood diarrhea rates had decreased by 25% (Cha et al, 2017). In Nigeria, Alegbeleye et al (2019) conceived of CE as trained volunteers who solicited financial donations from community members for infectious disease case management services. Specifically, the investigators found that community-trained volunteers successfully increased donations and improved use of local resources.…”

Community engagement approaches for malaria prevention, control and elimination: a scoping review protocol

“…19 All these different CE approaches have contributed to improved awareness, early detection of cases and improved access and wider community acceptance of malaria prevention and treatment in the afore-mentioned countries. [16][17][18][19] This paper describes the protocol for a scoping review that aims to describe CE approaches targeting the prevention, control or elimination of malaria that have been/or are being implemented by countries.…”

“… 16 In Nigeria, integrated community case management has been used to detect and treat malaria cases in remote areas using trained local community health workers, minimising travel time and the cost for patients. 17 Similarly, in Cameroon and Cambodia, local volunteers and village malaria workers have been used to conduct proactive and reactive case detection in communities to prevent transmission, 11 18 while the Interactive Malaria Awareness Program in South Africa has successfully used home-based care workers to form local-level partnerships and to also educate communities on malaria prevention and control. 19 All these different CE approaches have contributed to improved awareness, early detection of cases and improved access and wider community acceptance of malaria prevention and treatment in the afore-mentioned countries.…”