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Community and facility-level engagement in planning and budgeting for the government health sector--a district perspective from Kenya.

Publication ,  Journal Article
O'Meara, WP; Tsofa, B; Molyneux, S; Goodman, C; McKenzie, FE
Published in: Health Policy
March 2011

Health systems reform processes have increasingly recognized the essential contribution of communities to the success of health programs and development activities in general. Here we examine the experience from Kilifi district in Kenya of implementing annual health sector planning guidelines that included community participation in problem identification, priority setting, and planning. We describe challenges in the implementation of national planning guidelines, how these were met, and how they influenced final plans and budgets. The broad-based community engagement envisaged in the guidelines did not take place due to the delay in roll out of the Ministry of Health-trained community health workers. Instead, community engagement was conducted through facility management committees, though in a minority of facilities, even such committees were not involved. Some overlap was found in the priorities highlighted by facility staff, committee members and national indicators, but there were also many additional issues raised by committee members and not by other groups. The engagement of the community through committees influenced target and priority setting, but the emphasis on national health indicators left many local priorities unaddressed by the final work plans. Moreover, it appears that the final impact on budgets allocated at district and facility level was limited. The experience in Kilifi highlights the feasibility of engaging the community in the health planning process, and the challenges of ensuring that this engagement feeds into consolidated plans and future implementation.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

Health Policy

DOI

EISSN

1872-6054

Publication Date

March 2011

Volume

99

Issue

3

Start / End Page

234 / 243

Location

Ireland

Related Subject Headings

  • Regional Health Planning
  • Politics
  • Needs Assessment
  • Kenya
  • Humans
  • Health Priorities
  • Health Policy & Services
  • Health Planning Councils
  • Health Plan Implementation
  • Health Care Reform
 

Citation

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O’Meara, W. P., Tsofa, B., Molyneux, S., Goodman, C., & McKenzie, F. E. (2011). Community and facility-level engagement in planning and budgeting for the government health sector--a district perspective from Kenya. Health Policy, 99(3), 234–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2010.08.027
O’Meara, Wendy Prudhomme, Benjamin Tsofa, Sassy Molyneux, Catherine Goodman, and F Ellis McKenzie. “Community and facility-level engagement in planning and budgeting for the government health sector--a district perspective from Kenya.Health Policy 99, no. 3 (March 2011): 234–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2010.08.027.
O’Meara WP, Tsofa B, Molyneux S, Goodman C, McKenzie FE. Community and facility-level engagement in planning and budgeting for the government health sector--a district perspective from Kenya. Health Policy. 2011 Mar;99(3):234–43.
O’Meara, Wendy Prudhomme, et al. “Community and facility-level engagement in planning and budgeting for the government health sector--a district perspective from Kenya.Health Policy, vol. 99, no. 3, Mar. 2011, pp. 234–43. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2010.08.027.
O’Meara WP, Tsofa B, Molyneux S, Goodman C, McKenzie FE. Community and facility-level engagement in planning and budgeting for the government health sector--a district perspective from Kenya. Health Policy. 2011 Mar;99(3):234–243.
Journal cover image

Published In

Health Policy

DOI

EISSN

1872-6054

Publication Date

March 2011

Volume

99

Issue

3

Start / End Page

234 / 243

Location

Ireland

Related Subject Headings

  • Regional Health Planning
  • Politics
  • Needs Assessment
  • Kenya
  • Humans
  • Health Priorities
  • Health Policy & Services
  • Health Planning Councils
  • Health Plan Implementation
  • Health Care Reform