Managing Malaria Control Outreach Programme Activities in Remote and Rural Ghana: A Qualitative Analysis of Communities’ Contributions
Pages : 1471-1478Download PDF
With malaria continuously posing as a major public health challenge in the remote and rural areas of Ghana, its
management has been an issue in recent times. However, while the crucial roles that Community Health Workers
(CHWs) play in managing malaria are well recognized, little is known about the contributions made by the communities themselves. This study therefore sought to explore communities’ contributions to the management of malaria within the context of control outreach programme activities in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Qualitative case-study method was used with in-depth interviews and focus groups discussions techniques to explore the views of the community members and health professionals themselves. Data were audio-taped, transcribed and analysed for emerging categories and sub-categories. The findings indicated that there were a number of important roles played by the communities. These include: providing information, mobilisation and educating fellow community members; acting as surveillance agents for most stakeholders, motivating and advising community health officials. The conclusion was that Communities were important assets to be reckoned with and as such they should be given recognition in major issues on disease prevention and control. The paper therefore suggests that the major intervention components of control programmes’ activities should be transferred from the national level to the community levels.
Keywords: Outreach programmes, Communities, Contributions, Remote and Rural Ghana, Malaria management