Peer-reviewed article
Successes and Challenges Related to Community Participation in Primary Health Care and Health Programs in the IGAD Region: A Scoping Review.
Houssein Ali F, Njah M, Martin Milot D, Hassouni K ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This scoping review examines how communities participate in primary health care and health programs across eight East African countries in the IGAD region. The review of 64 studies found that community participation through mechanisms like health committees and volunteer mobilization improved disease prevention, crisis management, and access to maternal and child health services. However, significant challenges persist, including communication gaps, resource limitations, cultural barriers, and political instability that limit the effectiveness and sustainability of these initiatives.
Key points
- Community participation mechanisms include establishment of community health committees and mobilization of volunteers
- Successes include improvements in disease prevention, crisis management, community resilience, and access to maternal and child health services
- Challenges include communication gaps, resource limitations, cultural barriers, and political instability
- Community participation is identified as essential for the success and sustainability of health programs
- The review covered studies from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda
Limitations
As a scoping review, this study synthesizes existing literature rather than conducting primary research, so it cannot establish causation or provide detailed quantitative outcomes. The review does not appear to separately examine outcomes specific to child health compared to general population health outcomes.
Abstract
For decades, community participation (CP) in primary health care (PHC) and health programs (HP) has played a crucial role in improving health services and their sustainability. This article examines the successes and challenges of CP in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) region, which includes Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda, focusing on the factors influencing and levels of community engagement. This study employs a scoping review based on the Arksey and O'Malley framework and the IAP2 public participation spectrum. A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for studies published up to April 2024. Relevant articles on CP mechanisms in PHC and HP in the IGAD region were selected. In total, 64 articles were included in this scoping review. The studies highlighted various forms and mechanisms of CP, such as the establishment of community health committees and the mobilization of volunteers. Successes included improvements in disease prevention, crisis management, community resilience, and access to maternal and child health services. However, challenges remain, such as communication gaps, resource limitations, cultural barriers, and political instability. Community participation is essential for the success of health programs in the IGAD region. Although significant progress has been made, persistent challenges must be addressed to optimize the impact and sustainability of CP initiatives.