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MMUST RESEARCHERS RECOMMEND UTILIZATION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH UNITS AS AN ADAPTABILITY STRATEGY TO ENHANCE HOME BASED CARE IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19

The other members of the research group included Prof. Elizabeth Omukunda, Dr. Stella Wanjala, Ms. Monica Amunga, Ms. Jackline Mukili and Mr. Mickey Oloo. The dissemination activity was moderated by Dr. Wanjala who urged the CHV’s to ensure sustainability of the project in their Community Units.


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The team of researchers, DCCM team together with Community Health Volunteers and Community Health Assistants at the Navakholo Sub-County Hospital.


“Community ownership of this research will contribute towards the sustainability of the project. You must continue educating other community members on the importance of Home based Care in the fight against COVID-19,” added Dr. Wanjala.

Additionally, Dr. Wanzala pointed out that they utilized the already established Community Health Units to reach out to the community members who they trained to conduct COVID-19 home based care activities in their Units. The research team developed a curriculum on home based care which was used for the training.

According to Prof. Omukunda, the research findings revealed that 47% of the respondents had a high level of knowledge on COVID-19 and 40.7% had moderate knowledge while 12.3% had low level of knowledge. This means that the capacity building carried out by the team was effective.


image 5034The researchers from right; Dr. Stella Wanjala, Principal Investigator Dr. Maximillah Wanzala, Prof. Elizabeth Omukunda and Mr. Mickey Oloo.


One of the Community Health Assistants, Mr. Rueben Sibawa attested to the behavior change in the practice of home based care among the community members as a result of the training undertaken. “We are ready to work with you on many other projects to make our communities even better,” he added. It was also noted that through the establishment of home based care, many other infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis have been controlled. In addition, hygiene related diseases such as diarrhea and typhoid have been managed.

“We have really benefited from this project. In fact, the many cases of diarrhea which used to be common in my Community Unit have reduced considerably,” added Ms. Catherine Simiyu, a Community Health Volunteer.


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Session Moderator, Dr. Stella Wanjala giving a point during the event.


Some of the key action lines that emanated from the dissemination activity included ownership of the project by the community, continuous sensitization of community members on COVID-19 protocols and organizing dialogues for community members. The researchers also recommended that community members get vaccinated and that the CHV’s continue making referrals of serious cases to hospitals.


By Dr. Lydia Anyonje and Linet Owuor

Photos by Wilberforce Shiundu 

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