CHALLENGES TO STRATEGIC DELIVERY OF PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES IN COUNTIES IN KENYA: A STUDY OF MACHAKOS COUNTY
Abstract
This study sought to determine the challenges to strategic delivery of public health services in counties in Kenya, with a keen look at Machakos County by measuring four variables; management style, financing, adoption of ICT and staff training and their impact on delivery of public health services in Machakos County. The research was anchored on five theories; Contingency Theory, Resource-Based View Theory, Change Theory, Social Learning Theory and Andersen’s Health Behavior Model. The research adopted a descriptive research design and targeted all the 159 public health facilities within Machakos County as at December 2015. The study’ population was divided into four strata based on the level of the medical facilities; Level-2, Level-3, Level-4 and Level-5 facilities. Stratified random sampling was then applied in determining 2 respondents from each of the 40 sampled facilities; a total of 80 respondents were be used in the study. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the respondents while data analysis was carried out using SPSS. Correlation and regression analyses were used to describe the type and nature of association between the study variables. Generally, the researcher established that there exists a strong positive association between dependent (successful healthcare service delivery) and the independent (management style, financing of healthcare services, adoption of ICT and staff training) variables with the independent variables explaining up to 79.0 percent of the success in healthcare service delivery. The findings of the study sought to further other studies through providing a reference platform for other researchers, provide policyholders with the necessary information to facilitate the development of regulations and policies and also aid decision makers in curbing challenges relating to strategic provision of health services in the country’ health sector.
Key Words: Management Style, Financing, Adoption of ICT, Staff Training
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v5i2.771
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