Response Strategies Adopted By The Ministry Of Health To Challenges Of Devolved Healthcare Services In Kenya
View/ Open
Date
2016-11Author
Onyango, Elizabeth Awino
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Varied environmental challenges exert pressure on organizations to seek strategies that will enable them survive and excel. Response strategies are rapid and creative actions that organizations deploy in trying to establish a fit with the dynamic and turbulent environment. This study sought to establish the response strategies the Ministry of health in Kenya has adopted in dealing with challenges of devolved healthcare services. This was a case study of the Ministry of Health that involved collection of primary data and secondary data. Primary data was obtained through interviews enabled by use of interview guides to top management of the Ministry of Health. Secondary data involved extracting information from the MOH documents like strategic plan of 2014 to 2018. It also entailed getting relevant information from the MOH’s and partners’ websites to corroborate information provided during face to face interviews. Content analysis was done along thematic areas outlined and as per the study objectives. The research findings revealed that the challenges of devolved health care services have included: governance and leadership gaps; frequent industrial strikes by health care workers; inadequate infrastructure; weak inter-county collaboration; financial constraints and delays; weak referral systems; weak health information systems; challenges in inter-governmental coordination; and inadequate and inefficient health products and technologies. The MOH has pursued the following strategies in addressing the challenges: formation of strategic alliances, joint venture, outsourcing, diversification, market penetration, market development, product development and department-specific operational strategies. The study concluded that inadequate and delayed financial resources, poor human resource management, and overlap of resources and functions between the county governments and the MOH are hampering health service delivery under devolution. The study recommended that intergovernmental relations be strengthened and relevant laws enacted that will clearly unbundle the roles of the MOH and the counties in matters of health care service delivery. Proper policies and strategies are required in prudent management of human resources for health. The issues of delayed and inadequate funding for counties need to be resolved if devolution is going to succeed in provision of healthcare services. The study experienced limitations in that it did not assess to what extent the strategies adopted by the MOH were successful. The study confined itself to few strategies outlined upfront by the researcher in addition to limiting the research to the MOH. Further studies are required to focus on: extent of success of the strategies; other corporate, business and operational strategies; other environmental variables; other contexts outside MOH; and other research methodologies for instance surveys and longitudinal studies within the same MOH
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
The following license files are associated with this item: