Project Management Practices and the Implementation of Maternal and Child Health Projects of Safaricom PLC in Siakago Sub-county, Embu County, Kenya

Abstract

―The investigated the following variables; project planning, stakeholder involvement, project communication, monitoring, and evaluation and how they influenced implementation of MCH projects. The study focused on 720 mothers who gave birth in the Siakago sub-county hospital between 2021 and 2022, 25 employees of the Safaricom Foundation, and 7 community health workers. Since the target population for the study's community health workers and Safaricom employees managing the maternal and child health projects was quite small, neither group was sampled. There were 288 responses in all, divided between moms, community health workers, and staff from the Safaricom Foundation. 25 members of the Safaricom team, 7 community health workers, and 180 moms were interviewed as part of the data collection process. The researcher employed descriptive and inferential statistics to examine the data using the social sciences program SPSS version 26. The Maternal and Child Health Project's planning and execution indicated a positive correlation (r=0.740). Given that the p-value of 0.000 was less than 0.01, the execution of the mother and child health project and stakeholder involvement demonstrated a high positive connection (r= 0.983**). The study discovered a negative connection (r=-0.957**) between project communication and maternal and child health implementation. The relationship between the project's monitoring, evaluation, and implementation also had a weak correlation (r=-0.342).. These findings point to a favorable inverse association between project management techniques and the success of maternal and child health projects. It was found out that 67 percent of the project management approaches used in the execution of maternal and child health projects are accounted for by the four independent variables (Project planning, Stakeholder engagement, Project communication, and Monitoring and Evaluation), as represented by the R2. Accordingly, additional project management techniques not previously investigated in this study account for 33% of the effects of independent variables on the execution of maternal and child health programs. The research recommends that Safaricom Plc develop efficient communication strategies for use in carrying out its tasks. For project management teams, the research offers further suggestions on how to guarantee patient happiness, particularly for moms who use MCH facilities. The research recommends allowing Safaricom's project management teams more freedom so they may create and implement their plans without intervention from political and governmental bodies. Finally, everyone participating in the monitoring and evaluation of MCH efforts needs to get training.