ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Community involvement in health care in Ghana: an evaluation of Brong Ahafo Rural Integrated Development Programme - Barided (1974-81)

Since the Danfo Project - (a Joint Community Health and Family Planning project, initiated by the University of Ghana Medical School and University of California, Los Ange1es), community involvement and participation in the delivery of health care service and health programming has been recognized in Ghana to be an important factor in maintaining health systems and in sustaining community development. But what part community members should play and how they can be motivated and committed to initiate community health programmes have not been subjected to critical and empirical analysis. Recognizing the important role community members can play in health systems, the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization - WHO, initiated a 5-year health project in the (former) Wenchi District in Brong -Ahafo region of Ghana, called THE BRONG AHAFO RURAL INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, hereafter coded BARIDEP, or Baridep for short. The BARIDEP is a programme for studying and obtaining experience in “how activities for improvement of health can be integrated into the general development process based on the community development approach with the active involvement of local communities.”1 Moreover, it is a programme for evaluating the effects of such integration. The programme has two components viz, the Implementation component and the Research/Evaluating component. Responsibility for the former component rests solely with the Government of Ghana primarily through the Ministry of Health, whilst the Evaluating aspect is the joint responsibility of Ghana Government and the World Health Organization - WHO, with some assistance from the Swedish, International Development Agency - SIDA.

Source: KNUST
Community management of common pool resources: a study of the utilisation of water for irrigation farming in Binduri, Bawku East Municipality

There is a growing recognition of the importance of common pool resources as livelihood sources to many rural households. Common pool resources constitute a primary source of livelihood and a coping mechanism for many rural households. Water is one of such common pool resources that is contributing immensely to the livelihood of many rural households, especially those in the savannah and semi-arid regions. However, despite its importance, water for irrigation farming remains inadequate whiles demand continues to increase. This poses a challenge to the management of available supplies. This study focuses on how the people of Binduri in the Bawku East Municipality utilize the community dam for dry season onion production. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative tools in the collection and analysis of data. It particularly made use of diverse participatory tools of data collection and analysis including focus group discussions, trend line analysis and time line analysis among other tools. The study revealed that the community dam has multiple uses. The dam’s water is being used for livestock watering, pito brewing, fishing and irrigation fanning. There is however preference for irrigation farming in the community. The community through the Water Users Association (WUA) has carried out a number of management tasks aimed at regulating the usage of the resource and ensuring its sustenance. These management tasks include the allocation of plots, water distribution, catchment area protection, and dam embankment maintenance and canal maintenance as well as revenue mobilisation among other things. Though the community has made some gains, there are still a number of challenges. These include the interference of land owners in the allocation of plots, the poor communal spirit of the people, the non-payment of water/plot levies by the beneficiaries, the continuous refusal of farmers along the dam catchment area to relocate their farming activities and the difficulty in ensuring fair access to water by all farmers within the irrigable area among other things. Despite the enormity of these challenges, it is hoped that if the current efforts of the community is sustained and/or enhanced, management of the scheme would eventually become effective in the not too distant future.

Source: KNUST
Community Number Three, Tema

Right from the beginning of my schooling in Architecture I have been intrigued by the concept of planned environments, where architects and planners design ideal environments for the day to day activities of humans. There have been many ideas and proposals, from the concept of the Garden City by Ebenezer Howard (1898), the neighbourhood unit, Clarence Peny (1929), The Broadacre City Plan (Frank Ilyod Wright (1932), The City of Tomorrow (Le Corbusier), The Radburn Principle and the Dynamic City (Constantinos Doxiadis) to name a few. Many of the proposals are mere utopias but a few have actually been built, Letchworth (Garden City Principle, Britain) and the town of Radburn (U.S.A.). The town of Tema in Ghana was also built from the scratch with modern planning principles by C.A. Doxiadia and his firm of consultants. It has existed for over 30 years now and therefore serves as a good yardstick to access the workings of a planned environment. Many problems exist within the town and a part aim of this study is to find out why they should exist in such a planned town. Special emphasis will be placed on the residential environment. A proposal for an action plan to arrest the negative trends in the town will be made and finally the design of one of the communities’ which at present have not been developed. The objectives are therefore three-fold. A. Access the workability of the planned environment B. Arrest the existing trends in Tema (with special emphasis on the residential sector) ensure its successful completion and smooth functioning C. The detailed design of one residential district in the town, keeping in mind the present economic conditions in the country. The study will be carried out through 1. studying the master plans, concepts and house types of the original planners 2. Field surveys, interviews, visual observation, sketches and photographs. Limitations (with respect to the design of the community) 1. Lack of information from the companies who own land in the community to be designed, final decisions had not yet been made on the type of income groups, house types and the actual number of workers to be provided for. 2. The inability to interview the actual users of the community as at this initial stage they are still unknown until the community is built.

Source: KNUST
Community health financing through prepayment schemes in the Kwaebibirem District Of Ghana - a Feasibility Study

Health finance has seen different stages in Ghana. Medical care in the sixties was free but with the escalating health cost, the capacity of the Ministry of Health could no longer meet the subsidies and as such a form of cost recovery had to be introduced. The capacity of the Ministry of Health was even further undermined by the unstable economic performance, unprecedented rates of population growth and the immense cost that the HIV pandemic had exacted and continues to exact on the health budgets. Cost recovery took the form of “user fees” which was introduced in Ghana in July, 1985. Following the introduction of user fees, health service utilization fell and many people could not afford their health bills leading to high defaulting/absconding rates and as such loss of revenue to the health services as well as an increase in morbidity, mortality and disability rates. Due to the inability of the user fees to solve the ailing health finance in the country, a flurry of debate ensued culminating in the proposition of health insurance schemes to remedy the situation and hence this work. The study was cross - sectional with respect to Primary Data and Retrospective with respect to Secondary Data. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected for analysis. Purposive (Convenience) Sampling was used to select five communities in which to collect Primary Data. The Houses and Households were hereafter chosen by Systematic Sampling and Simple Random Sampling respectively. Secondary Data was obtained from the District Hospital Records office. The results of the feasibility study revealed a fair basis for a Community Health Prepayment Scheme. The findings further revealed a fairly weak financial base with over 50% of the sampled population falling below the lower poverty line of ¢700,000.00 per adult per annum. The mean annual income was found to be ¢5,361,229.70 with 49.8% earning less than ¢500,000 per annum. However, the social acceptability was very high (96.6%). A monthly premium contribution schedule was established to range between ¢3,000 and ¢6,500 per capita. Both In - patient and Out-patient services was the choice priority of the people though holistic analysis favoured. In - patient services only for the now. The scheme design arrived at was the direct insurance type and the management body was to be the District Hospital on the basis of managerial /administrative efficiency as well as requisite capacity. Further studies into the following areas may be useful in the future: Actuarially determined premiums, scheme designs that will foster equity and qualitative studies to establish the reasons for certain choices and actions.

Source: KNUST
Community Participation as an Instrument of Development in East Akim Municipal Assembly

There has been widespread concern that community participation in development has been making an important contribution to development of countries. In this regard, the then PNDC Government of Ghana in 1992 undertook measures to decentralize administration and political authority as well as engender communities’ involvement in planning and implementation of development programmes in Ghana. This study sets out to examine community participation in the East Akim area, evaluate how it has helped in the provision of social amenities and the residents’ sense of responsibility or ownership of projects in the area. Data was obtained from residents in various communities in the area, community leaders, and senior members of the Assembly using the non-probability sampling technique. The study revealed that community participation, as far as development is concerned, has been a good contribution to the community’s development. Specifically, educational infrastructure, health facilities, and notably toilet facilities have been built. A consultative decision making approach ensued between the community members and leaders for development. Residents contributed through communal labour and to some extent felt a sense of ownership of projects, though government plays important role in ownership. Whereas findings revealed that more projects could be built through community participation, some attitudes that did not promote community participation were indiscipline and instability of the community. A few senior members revealed that community participation is very poor, at best moderate and more needs to be done to rejuvenate it. It was recommended that communal labour movements be properly constituted in the area to empower, educate and inform residents on the need for participation. The study recommended that future studies should attempt a more comprehensive study that would compare community participation among communities to identify indicators for development and the impact community participation really has on development.

Source: KNUST
Community participation in health care financing (The Case of Health Insurance in West Gonja District)

Over the years, the cost of health care has been increasing significantly thus reducing access to effective health care, It is the intention of government to ensure access to health services by investing in health to make it affordable, having recognised that health is a key ingredient to the formation human capital and hence the sustenance of socio-economic development. However, recent economic events have made it clear that government cannot continue to provide adequate resources or the effective running of the health system. This is evident from government’s financial allocation to the Ministry of Health, which has been shrinking over the past decade. The need to introduce health insurance s an alternate form of health sector financing has therefore been advocate and the need is more compelling now than ever. Nonetheless, opinion are divided as to whether our rural communities will accept an effectively contribute to an insurance scheme and whether such schemes re sustainable. The objective of this study was to find out if the scheme at West Gonja was popular and sustainable. Discussions were held with the communities and with key players of the scheme. The study found that health insurance was very popular amongst the people and is seen as a panacea their inability to pay for health care services on demand. A major finding was that community health insurance can increase effective access to health care and provides reso11rcés for continuous improvement in quality care. For purposes of sustainability, it as noted that he communities wanted to have a say in the management of the scheme particularly on the setting of premiums. It was realised that, minimal involvement can lead to minimal appreciation f t1hé positive consequences of insurance. A participatory approach the scheme would yield higher dividends.

Source: KNUST
Community participation in procurement as a tool for poverty alleviation in Ghana: a case study of Ghana Social Opportunities Project (GSOP).

Community participation in procurement is very important especially in developing countries like Ghana because it brings project sustainability. Procurement must achieve certain specific social objectives, such us, alleviating poverty, developing local entrepreneurship, creating employment etc. as a result, it is desirable in selected project component to call for the participation of the local communities to increase the utilisation of local know-how, goods and materials or employ labour-intensive. But since the coming into force of the public procurement Act the good people of Ghana still complain of serious unemployment issues and extreme poverty. It is against these shortcomings that the study was conducted. The study employs a case study which is a qualitative study design. The main instruments used for the data collection were interviews and examination of documents. It was revealed that income-earning employment was created for 64,400 persons through community participation in procuring labour in the country and put a total of GHc 644,000.00 into individual pockets. The study revealed that the community produced productive labour. Took part in the selection of their project and were also involve in the monitoring and inspection of the project. They participated in site meetings and played accountability role. The results and discussions from the study have clearly confirmed the fact that community participation in procurement is very necessary for a developing country like Ghana. It also provides the opportunity for people in the community to get income-earning employment to improve their living conditions. The community participation in procurement as practiced by GSOP allowed the communities to select their own project, provide labour to carry out the work, use their local materials but not their local knowledge. The roles they play contributed greatly on alleviation of poverty

Source: KNUST
Community participation in health service delivery in some peri-urban communities in Manhyia North Sub-Metro, Kumasi, Ghana

Community Participation (CP) in health is accorded great importance in the face of scarce resources at the disposal of governments the world over. As a result of the large potential benefits attributed to participation, including addressing of community needs through more locally adopted organizational processes and improvement in health outcomes, governments have adopted policies and programmes of community participation as part of their strategy to improve primary health care services as laid down by WHO (1978) in the Alma Ata Declaration. As the main component of primary health care, proponents of community participation envisioned self-motivated individuals and communities working together with the state to design their own health programmes and improve health development. Individuals and families would come to view health not only as a right, but a responsibility. Individuals and communities would therefore be involved in assessment of situation, definition of (health) problems and setting of priorities as well as help in planning health activities and subsequently cooperate when these activities are carried out. Community participation, as a medium for successful primary health care services, is an essential cog in the wheel of ensuring that community programmes and projects are well thought out, executed, monitored, evaluated, maintained, managed and sustained for this generation and posterity. There have been several and varied attempts in Ghana of involving communities in provision of essential health care as early as the late 1970s. But it seems the desired results have been eluding the rural communities. The main objective of this study therefore, was to assess community participation in health care delivery and factors affecting if in the Manhyia North sub-metro, Kurnasi in the Ashanti Region, Ghana. The study covered the non-professional components of primary health care in programmes construction of infrastructure for clinics, toilets and rubbish dumps. Efforts were made to establish findings from the data analysis. The extent of community participation was established or arrived at in the percentage (%) agreement of communities on their communal involvement and participation on consensus building on decisions concerning each community’s project (s). The level of participation (high or low) was arrived at on the basis that there was consultation with the beneficiary community’s part in decisions on (the projects or) health needs which concerned or affected their lives - a very vital principle of the WHO’s (1978) Alma Ata Declaration that considered Community Participation as the “involvement of communities themselves in identifying their own health needs and finding solutions to them. Recommendations made, were considered to improve community involvement and participation in health programmes and projects.

Source: KNUST
Community participation in rural water and sanitation delivery in the Nkoranza North District

Water is life, for people and for the planet and sanitation is dignity. Target 10 of the Millennium Development Goal 7 specifically calls for reducing by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation by 2015. For Ghana to achieve this target the available water and sanitation facilities needs to be maintained and sustained so that new ones can be added. To maintain and sustain water and sanitation facilities, direct beneficiaries and other stakeholders have to be involved actively in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. This called for a study to ascertain the level of community participation in water and sanitation delivery. The case study approach was adopted and Nkoranza North District offered the study an opportunity to do an in-depth study. This study therefore employed preliminary investigations, interviews, and focus group discussions to unravel the extent to which communities were involved in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of water and sanitation delivery. To unravel the situation and achieve the objectives o f the study, certain questions have to be responded to. The study sought to answer the following questions: i. What informs the provision of water and sanitation facilities to rural communities? ii. What are the processes and modes of community participation in the service delivery? iii. What factors influence community participation in rural water and sanitation delivery? iv. What is the capacity of assemblies in service delivery? v. What could be done to enhance community participation in basic infrastructure delivery? The study revealed that the DA partially involved the beneficiary communities and other stakeholders in the planning processes, implementation and monitoring of preparation and implementation of the DWSP. However, the involvement of the stakeholders took the form of non-participation and tokenism. To improve on the situation, the DCE must be made to sign performance contract for preparation and implementation of development plans . Also, community involvement in project planning, implementation, and monitoring has to be expanded and taken the form of citizens‟ power

Source: KNUST
Community Perception and Laboratory Analysis of the Quality of Drinking Water Sources in the Kpedze Community of the Volta Region

This study was carried out to determine the bacteriological safety of drinking water sources of the people of Kpedze in the Volta Region, Ghana. The survey conducted using structured questionnaires captured views of households on the quality of water they use and the treatment methods employed before drinking. Membrane filtration and pour plate methods were employed for the microbiological analysis of the water samples. Of the sixty (60) randomly selected households, 78.3 % (47) preferred tap water to other drinking water sources. About 73.3 % (44) said their drinking water tasted normal while 70 % (42) said that there was no foul smell associated with their water; however, 76.7 % (46) observed sediments collected at the base of their storage containers used. Most respondents [79.2 % (42)] observed that it usually takes more than a month for broken pipe lines to be fixed. In the laboratory analyses, samples from the river had total coliform (TC) counts ranging from 1.162 x 103 ± 47.00 cfu/100mL to 1.488 x 103 ± 279.00 cfu/100mL, faecal coliform (FC) counts ranging from 3.92 x 102 ± 20.00 cfu/100mL to 6.04 x 102 ± 47.00 cfu/100mL, E. coli counts ranging from 1.18 x 102 ± 40 cfu/100mL to 1.22 x 102 ± 51.00 cfu/100mL, and total heterotrophic bacteria (THB) ranging from 2.60 x 102 ± 118.00 cfu/1mL to 7.67 x 102 ± 204 cfu/1mL. The tap water had TC counts ranging from 6.98 x 102 ± 47.00 cfu/100mL to 1.122 x 103 ± 6.00 cfu/100mL and 4.00 ± 2.00 cfu/100mL to 1.102 x 103 ± 210.00 cfu/100ml for FC counts. E. coli levels in tap water ranged from 2.00 ± 1.00 cfu/100mL to 1.48 x 102 ± 53.00 cfu/100mL while THB ranged from 9.7 x 101 ± 20.00 cfu/mL to 1.577 x 103 ± 662.00 cfu/mL. Water from the hand dug well had TC counts ranging from 5.73 x 102 ± 26.00 cfu/100mL, FC levels of 31.00 ± 18.00 cfu/100mL, E. coli counts of 2.00 ± 2.00 cfu/100mL and THB of 3.09 x 102 ± 94 cfu/mL. Samples from the borehole had TC levels of 5.10 x 102 ± 78.00 cfu/100mL, FC counts of 3.00 ± 2.00 cfu/100mL, E. coli counts of 0.00 ± 0.00 cfu/100mL and THB counts of 2.76 x 102 ± 180.00 cfu/mL. The physico-chemical analysis of the water samples revealed pH 5.86 for the tap water, 6.19 for the hand dug water, pH of 7 for the borehole water and 5.91 for water from the river. The observational checklist revealed that the odour and taste were inoffensive. Levels of calcium, magnesium, iron and nitrate were all found to be below the Ghana Standards Authority (GS175-1) recommended limits for drinking water. From the survey, it was identified that the Kpedze community does not rely on a single source of water for domestic purposes. Using E. coli as the indicator organism, water from the borehole was found to be safe (0.00 cfu/100ml) among all the sources sampled.

Source: KNUST