TY - JOUR
T1 - A community engagement approach for an integrated early childhood development intervention
T2 - a case study of an urban informal settlement with Kenyans and embedded refugees
AU - Kabue, Margaret
AU - Abubakar, Amina
AU - Ssewanyana, Derrick
AU - Angwenyi, Vibian
AU - Marangu, Joyce
AU - Njoroge, Eunice
AU - Ombech, Eunice
AU - Mokaya, Mercy Moraa
AU - Obulemire, Emmanuel Kepha
AU - Mugo, Catherine
AU - Malti, Tina
AU - Moran, Greg
AU - Martin, Marie Claude
AU - Proulx, Kerrie
AU - Marfo, Kofi
AU - Zhang, Linlin
AU - Lye, Stephen
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was granted ethics approval by the Aga Khan University Institutional Review Board- Ref: 2017/REC-93(v1) and a research permit was granted by National Commission for Science, Technology & Innovation (NACOSTI), and Ref: NACISTI/P/19/50782/31710. All study participants provided written informed consent for their participation. The study was conducted in accordance with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.
Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge the support from Dagoretti sub-county Ministry of Health team and Daraja Civic Initiative Forum, during the formative phase of this study.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by funding from international Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC) through the project on Improving Early Childhood Development and Well-Being in Refugee and Other Marginalized Communities (Centre File: 108506–002). The funding bodies did not play any role in the in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Background: Community engagement is crucial for the design and implementation of community-based early childhood development (ECD) programmes. This paper aims to share key components and learnings of a community engagement process for an integrated ECD intervention. The lessons shared are drawn from a case study of urban informal settlement with embedded refugees in Nairobi, Kenya. Methods: We conducted three stakeholder meetings with representatives from the Ministry of Health at County and Sub-County, actors in the ECD sector, and United Nations agency in refugee management, a transect walk across five villages (Ngando, Muslim, Congo, Riruta and Kivumbini); and, six debrief meetings by staff from the implementing organization. The specific steps and key activities undertaken, the challenges faced and benefits accrued from the community engagement process are highlighted drawing from the implementation team’s perspective. Results: Context relevant, well-planned community engagement approaches can be integrated into the five broad components of stakeholder engagement, formative research, identification of local resources, integration into local lives, and shared control/leadership with the local community. These can yield meaningful stakeholder buy-in, community support and trust, which are crucial for enabling ECD programme sustainability. Conclusion: Our experiences underscore that intervention research on ECD programmes in urban informal settlements requires a well-planned and custom-tailored community engagement model that is sensitive to the needs of each sub-group within the community to avoid unintentionally leaving anyone out.
AB - Background: Community engagement is crucial for the design and implementation of community-based early childhood development (ECD) programmes. This paper aims to share key components and learnings of a community engagement process for an integrated ECD intervention. The lessons shared are drawn from a case study of urban informal settlement with embedded refugees in Nairobi, Kenya. Methods: We conducted three stakeholder meetings with representatives from the Ministry of Health at County and Sub-County, actors in the ECD sector, and United Nations agency in refugee management, a transect walk across five villages (Ngando, Muslim, Congo, Riruta and Kivumbini); and, six debrief meetings by staff from the implementing organization. The specific steps and key activities undertaken, the challenges faced and benefits accrued from the community engagement process are highlighted drawing from the implementation team’s perspective. Results: Context relevant, well-planned community engagement approaches can be integrated into the five broad components of stakeholder engagement, formative research, identification of local resources, integration into local lives, and shared control/leadership with the local community. These can yield meaningful stakeholder buy-in, community support and trust, which are crucial for enabling ECD programme sustainability. Conclusion: Our experiences underscore that intervention research on ECD programmes in urban informal settlements requires a well-planned and custom-tailored community engagement model that is sensitive to the needs of each sub-group within the community to avoid unintentionally leaving anyone out.
KW - Community engagement
KW - Community health volunteers
KW - Early childhood development
KW - Informal settlements
KW - Intervention research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128007216&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12889-022-13185-x
DO - 10.1186/s12889-022-13185-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 35410147
AN - SCOPUS:85128007216
SN - 1472-698X
VL - 22
JO - BMC Public Health
JF - BMC Public Health
IS - 1
M1 - 711
ER -
