Community Involvement and Performance of Health Care Projects: the Case of Nutrition Projects in Kamukunji Sub County, Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

The goal of the research is to determine the effect of community involvement on the performance of healthcare projects, namely the nutrition project in Nairobi's Kamukunji sub-county. In relation to the performance of nutrition projects in Kamukunji Sub County, Nairobi, Kenya, the study looked at influence of community contribution in project identification, influence of community involvement in project planning, effect of community involvement in project implementation, and influence of community involvement in project monitoring and evaluation. The objectives were used to develop four null hypotheses that were tested in this study. The theory that underpinned the investigations was the Ladder theory. Descriptive survey and correlational research design was used to assess 20,045 nutrition project participants from Kamukunji Sub County, as well as project managers (from each of the project organizations) and health officials. About 376 random responses were scientifically determined to inform the sample size. A stratified random sampling technique was applied in the selection of respondents. Primary data was collected through questionnaire that was pilot tested for reliability before actual data collection. The collected data was analyzed through frequencies and percentages as well as means and standard deviations as descriptive statistics. Regression analysis was conducted to test the established hypotheses. Tables were used to present the findings. The study established that project identification (β=.194, p<0.05) had the largest and significant effect on performance of nutrition projects in Kamukunji Sub County, Nairobi, Kenya followed by project M&E (β=.178, p<0.05), project planning (β=.141, p<0.05) and project implementation (β=.107, p<0.05). The study concludes that community involvement is a significant predictor of the performance of health care projects. The study recommends that project managers of the nutrition projects in Kamukunji Sub County should involve the community more in risk identification as an aspect of project planning The monitoring and evaluation managers of the nutrition projects in Kamukunji Sub County should involve the community in development of the progress reports and the composition of the M&E team for nutrition projects. The study recommends further research to be conducted in other projects apart from the health and nutrition projects.