Institutionalizing Community Health Services in Kenya: A Policy and Practice Journey

Hussein, Salim; Otiso, Lilian; Kimani, Murungaru; Olago, Agatha; Wanyungu, John; Kavoo, Daniel; Njiraini, Rose; Kimanzi, Sila; Karuga, Robinson

doi:10.9745/ghsp-d-20-00430

Cited by 4 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Other suggestions put forward for mental health response during COVID-19 within the Kenyan context include: the need for preparation and allocation of adequate funding to a formal mental health response plan specific to the COVID-19 pandemic; training of community health workers/volunteers on provision of psychological first-aid support at household and community level, in order to enhance improved access to mental healthcare and support for those in need during the pandemic; and the need for assessments/surveys on the mental health impact in order to inform decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 44 , 46 , 50 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental Health during COVID-19 Pandemic among Caregivers of Young Children in Kenya’s Urban Informal Settlements. A Cross-Sectional Telephone Survey

Kabue

Chongwo

Mabrouk

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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The emergence of COVID-19 has profoundly affected mental health, especially among highly vulnerable populations. This study describes mental health issues among caregivers of young children and pregnant women in three urban informal settlements in Kenya during the first pandemic year, and factors associated with poor mental health. A cross-sectional telephone survey was administered to 845 participants. Survey instruments included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, General Anxiety Disorder-7 scale, COVID-19 Anxiety Scale, and questions on the perceived COVID-19 effects on caregiver wellbeing and livelihood. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and univariate and multivariate analysis. Caregivers perceived COVID-19 as a threatening condition (94.54%), affecting employment and income activities (>80%). Caregivers experienced discrimination (15.27%) and violence (12.6%) during the pandemic. Levels of depression (34%), general anxiety (20%), and COVID-19 related anxiety (14%) were highly prevalent. There were significant associations between mental health outcomes and economic and socio-demographic factors, violence and discrimination experiences, residency, and perceptions of COVID-19 as a threatening condition. Caregivers high burden of mental health problems highlights the urgent need to provide accessible mental health support. Innovative and multi-sectoral approaches will be required to maximize reach to underserved communities in informal settlements and tackle the root causes of mental health problems in this population.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental Health during COVID-19 Pandemic among Caregivers of Young Children in Kenya’s Urban Informal Settlements. A Cross-Sectional Telephone Survey

Kabue

Chongwo

Mabrouk

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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“…In Kenya, we see a need for additional research into the pathways through which health financing interventions support or hinder the success of community health programs. 23…”

Section: Community Health Financingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hussein et al and Healey et al discuss the CHW policy development process in Liberia and Kenya. 21,23 Two articles discuss how learning from vertical CHW programs drove evolution into broader and more integrated community programs. Palazuelos et al describe adopting a community health model in 3 countries, broadening from a focus on individuals with HIV, multidrug resistant-TB, and noncommunicable diseases to a whole-household approach.…”

Section: Policy Changementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hussein et al describe how the institutionalization of the community health services in Kenya occurred as a result of the extensive consultative process in developing the community health policy as well as increasing the visibility of the community strategy as a cornerstone of UHC. 23…”

Section: Institutionalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…21 Palazuelos et al discuss a cross-country learning process and the experience of a near-facility CHW program building trust between communities and health care teams. 24 Two articles describe experiences from Kenya and include an in-depth discussion on the policy process over the last 15 years 23 and the use of human-centered design to address a specific issue regarding the commodity supply chain among nomadic communities. 28…”

Section: Community Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Strength in Diversity: Integrating Community in Primary Health Care to Advance Universal Health Coverage

Warren¹,

Bellows²,

Marcus

et al. 2021

Glob Health Sci Pract

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The supplement highlights a systems approach that recognizes the communities' roles and their interactions with other health system actors to accelerate outcomes and reflect the diversity of the community health ecosystem. Several cross-cutting priorities emerge from the articles, namely coverage, community health financing, policy change, institutionalization, resilience, accountability, community engagement, and whole-of-society efforts.

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Politics–evidence conflict in national health policy making in Africa: a scoping review

Ansah,

Maneen,

Ephraim

et al. 2024

Health Res Policy Sys

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Background Generally, public health policy-making is hardly a linear process and is characterized by interactions among politicians, institutions, researchers, technocrats and practitioners from diverse fields, as well as brokers, interest groups, financiers and a gamut of other actors. Meanwhile, most public health policies and systems in Africa appear to be built loosely on technical and scientific evidence, but with high political systems and ideologies. While studies on national health policies in Africa are growing, there seems to be inadequate evidence mapping on common themes and concepts across existing literature. Purpose The study seeks to explore the extent and type of evidence that exist on the conflict between politics and scientific evidence in the national health policy-making processes in Africa. Methods A thorough literature search was done in PubMed, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, Dimensions, Taylor and Francis, Chicago Journals, Emerald Insight, JSTOR and Google Scholar. In total, 43 peer-reviewed articles were eligible and used for this review. Result We found that the conflicts to evidence usage in policy-making include competing interests and lack of commitment; global policy goals, interest/influence, power imbalance and funding, morals; and evidence-based approaches, self-sufficiency, collaboration among actors, policy priorities and existing structures. Barriers to the health policy process include fragmentation among actors, poor advocacy, lack of clarity on the agenda, inadequate evidence, inadequate consultation and corruption. The impact of the politics–evidence conflict includes policy agenda abrogation, suboptimal policy development success and policy implementation inadequacies. Conclusions We report that political interests in most cases influence policy-makers and other stakeholders to prioritize financial gains over the use of research evidence to policy goals and targets. This situation has the tendency for inadequate health policies with poor implementation gaps. Addressing these issues requires incorporating relevant evidence into health policies, making strong leadership, effective governance and a commitment to public health.

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Institutionalizing Community Health Services in Kenya: A Policy and Practice Journey

Cited by 4 publications

References 5 publications

Mental Health during COVID-19 Pandemic among Caregivers of Young Children in Kenya’s Urban Informal Settlements. A Cross-Sectional Telephone Survey

Mental Health during COVID-19 Pandemic among Caregivers of Young Children in Kenya’s Urban Informal Settlements. A Cross-Sectional Telephone Survey

Strength in Diversity: Integrating Community in Primary Health Care to Advance Universal Health Coverage

Politics–evidence conflict in national health policy making in Africa: a scoping review

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