Determining Healthcare Delivery in KELC Areas

By Candise Heinlein

 

Focused group discussion in progress. Focus group selected from patients at Mutyambua Dispensary in Ukambani.

 

As part of the joint ELCK and KELC/Lutheran World Relief project titled “Improving Lutheran Response to HIV/AIDS and Malaria in Kenya,” KELC engaged Dr. Ayub Manya of Kenya’s Division of Malaria Control (DOMC) as a consultant to help KELC assess the healthcare systems available to its congregants in the seven areas of the project. According to Dr. Manya, “The main objective of the assessment was to determine the status of service delivery in the operational area of the church in terms of the number of health facilities, their geographical and economic accessibility, staffing patterns and availability of drugs.” The results of the study will be used “to improve the health care among the KELC congregations through church led awareness campaigns.”

From 14 to 17 June, Malaria and HIV/AIDS coordinator Darius Nyamai and Dr. Manya accompanied by Christine Mbuli of DOMC traveled to Ukambani, Kambu, Lungalunga, Mombasa, Malindi, Tana River, and Hola Wenje. Dr. Manya had prepared questionnaires for distribution to focus groups at each parish and in each local healthcare facility and interviewed key informants (officers in charge) in the health care facilities. The focus groups were composed of 6–10 women who had received treatment in the neighboring health care facilities. By using information gathered through the questionnaires, focus group discussions, and informants, Dr. Manya identified the gaps in healthcare provided to KELC congregations by the seven health care facilities in the Eastern and Coast provinces of Kenya and will devise an advocacy plan for the church.

This mapping exercise was an integral step in the successful accomplishment of the project goal: Improve access to and utilization of malaria and HIV/AIDS prevention and control measures among ELCK and KELC congregations, especially among children, pregnant women, and people living with HIV and AIDS.