The community strategy aims at empowering communities to take charge of their own health based on the principles of Primary Health care. Community Health workers and community health volunteers link the household members to the formal health system. Households are organized into community units and are managed through a community health committee. public participation and involvement is key to its success

1. COMMUNITY
STRATEGY
FLORENCE F. A. OBONYO HAWA (MRS.) MPH KRN, KRM, KRCHN
Florence F. A. Obonyo Hawa
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2. CONTENT
 Concept of community strategy
 Goals
Community responsibilities
The community Unit
Community health commitee
Services provided at the community level
Referrals and linkage
Florence F. A. Obonyo Hawa
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3. WHAT IS A COMMUNITY ?
A community is a group of people (large or small ) living
in a certain geographical area and working together for a common goal
Florence F. A. Obonyo Hawa
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4. COMMUNITY DEFINITION
• A community is a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality,
share government, common values, norms, culture and customs, are arranged in a social
structure according to relationships. The community has collectively developed over a
period of time.
Florence F. A. Obonyo Hawa
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5. WHAT IS A STRATEGY?
It is a method or plan chosen to bring about a desired future, such as achievement
of a goal or solution to a problem.
OR
. The art and science of planning and marshalling resources for their most efficient
and effective use.
Florence F. A. Obonyo Hawa
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6. CONCEPT OF COMMUNITY STRATEGY
It is the mechanism through which households and communities
strengthen their role in health and health-related development by
increasing
their knowledge skills and participation.
Florence F. A. Obonyo Hawa
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7. COMMUNITY STRATEGY ( POLICIES )
The community strategy was launched in Kenya in the year 2006 through Kenya Essential
Package for Health (KEPH) proposed in the second National Health Sector Strategic Plan 2005–
2010 (NHSSP II).
 This was revised to National Health Strategic and Investment Plan 2014-2018,
 Other health policy guidelines includeThe Constitution of Kenya 2010, KenyaVision 2030,
Kenya Health Policy Framework 2014- 2030
Florence F. A. Obonyo Hawa
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8. GOAL OF THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
 The goal is to enhance community access to health care .
 This will:
 improve productivity
 reduce poverty, hunger, child and maternal deaths,
 improve education performance across all the stages of the life cycle.
This will be accomplished by establishing sustainable community level services aimed at promoting
dignified livelihoods throughout the country through the decentralization of services
Florence F. A. Obonyo Hawa
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9. COMMUNITY STRATEGY FOCUS
The community is the centre of focus in the implementation of primary health care ELEMENTS
which were deliberated at Alma Ata in 1978.Therefore, its responsibilities include the following:
To recognise priority problems relating to health
Decide on what needs to be done to overcome the problems
Decide on what the community itself can do to solve the problems
Florence F. A. Obonyo Hawa
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10. COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITIES
Be accountable
The community should identify
and Implement whatever they
can do on their own
They should be able to monitor
and evaluate their activities as
necessary
The community meets these
responsibilities through the
following;
Community awareness Community participation Community involvement
inclusivity
Florence F. A. Obonyo Hawa
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11. COMMUNITY AWARENESS
This is where the community is made aware of its problems and the available
resources, such as, manpower, money, materials, ideas and time.
This can be achieved through participation and involvement of the community through
the process of community diagnosis (self diagnosis)
 This leads to development of self reliance, accountability and ownership
Florence F. A. Obonyo Hawa
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12. 2. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
• This is process by which a community mobilises its
resources (money, labour), takes responsibility for its
its own development activities, and shares in decision
making and representation of community members
• Include special groups; people living with HIV and AIDs ,
women, people with disability , orphans and vulnerable
children .
Florence F. A. Obonyo Hawa
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13. 3. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
This entails active and willing participation of the
community in management of programmes which
contribute to their well being such as Reproductive
health, childhood infections, malaria, tuberculosis and
HIV prevention
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14. ROLE OF HOUSEHOLDS
The households have important
responsibilities for addressing
health needs at all stages in the life
cycle.
• Health promotion
• Disease prevention
• Health care seeking
• Participation in governance of health care services.
This includes;
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15. COMMUNITY UNIT
This comprises of 1,000 to 5,000 people who live in the same geographical area sharing
resources and challenges.
The No. of households in a community will determine the No. of Community Health
Workers to be selected.
1 CHWS serves approx. 20 households
The household members have direct contact with the CHW and the formal health
system where they seek and utilize health services
The household forms the first level of care that is universally available
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16. COMMUNITY HEALTH COMMITTEES
 It is the health governance that is closest to the community.
 Its elected in such a way that all the villages and all special groups in the community are
represented.
 Its role is to Identify community health priorities
 Planning, participate and mobilize resources for community health actions eg environmental
clean up
 Coordinate activities of the community health workers and volunteers
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17. KEY SERVICES PROVIDED AT THE COMMUNITY
 Disease prevention and control to reduce morbidity,
disability and mortality
 Family health and home visits .
 Expanding family planning, child ,youth and adolescent
Services
 Reducing maternal mortality by encouraging mothers to be
delivered by skilled birth attendants
 Personal hygiene and environmental sanitation

18. REFERRAL AND LINKAGE
The community health volunteers and community health
workers link the household to the health system
The referral process should be carried out through a dialogue
between the provider and the client, with the goal of
addressing the perceived needs of the client and the client’s
caregivers.
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19. REFERENCES
AHIA.(2010) implementing community strategy, Nairobi.
Community strategy implementation guidelines for managers of the Kenya essential package for health at the
community level.
STRATEGY_FOR_COMMUNITY_HEALTH_2014-2019.pdf MOH. Kenya (2007). http://guidelines.health.go.ke:8000/media/
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