Commonly cited incentives in the community implementation of the emergency maternal and newborn care study in western Kenya

BACKGROUND

Mortality of mothers and newborns is an important public health problem in low-income countries. In the rural setting, implementation of community based education and mobilization are strategies that have sought to reduce these mortalities. Frequently such approaches rely on volunteers within each community.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the perceptions of the community volunteers in rural Kenya as they implemented the EmONC program and to identify the incentives that could result in their sustained engagement in the project.

METHOD

A community-based cross sectional survey was administered to all volunteers involved in the study. Data were collected using a self-administered supervision tool from all the 881 volunteers.

RESULTS

881 surveys were completed. 769 respondents requested some form of incentive; 200 (26%) were for monetary allowance, 149 (19.4%) were for a bicycle to be used for transportation, 119 (15.5%) were for uniforms for identification, 88 (11.4%) were for provision of training materials, 81(10.5%) were for training in Home based Life Saving Skills (HBLSS), 57(7.4%) were for provision of first AID kits, and 39(5%) were for provision of training more facilitators, 36(4.7%) were for provision of free medication.

CONCLUSION

Monetary allowances, improved transportation and some sort of identification are the main incentives cited by the respondents in this context.

Symptom screen: diagnostic usefulness in detecting pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-infected pregnant women in Kenya

OBJECTIVE

To determine the diagnostic usefulness of tuberculosis (TB) symptom screening to detect active pulmonary TB among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected pregnant women in two PMTCT (prevention of mother-to-child transmission) clinics in western Kenya that are supported by the United States Agency for International Development-Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare partnership.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study. Participants were interviewed for TB symptoms with a standardized questionnaire (cough >2 weeks, fever, night sweats, weight loss or failure to gain weight). Those with cough submitted sputum specimens for smear microscopy for acid-fast bacilli and mycobacterial culture. Women at >14 weeks gestation underwent shielded chest radiography (CXR).

RESULTS

Of 187 HIV-infected women, 38 (20%) were symptom screen-positive. Of these, 21 had a cough for >2 weeks, but all had negative sputum smears and mycobacterial cultures. CXRs were performed in 26 symptomatic women: three were suggestive of TB (1 miliary, 1 infiltrates and 1 cavitary). Of 149 women with a negative symptom screen, 100 had a CXR and seven had a CXR suggestive of TB (1 cavitary, 2 miliary and 4 infiltrates).

CONCLUSION

This study did not support the utility of isolated symptom screening in identification of TB disease in our PMTCT setting. CXR was useful in identification of TB suspects in both symptomatic and asymptomatic women.