Abstract for: The role of Community Health Promoters in Kenya - effective policy for success

The Kenyan Government formally integrated its Community Health Volunteers into the health system in 2023 and initiated a major shift through payment of a monthly stipend, issuing of equipment and basic training. ‘Community Health Promoters’ are increasingly relied on as a key part of Kenya’s health system but the drivers of their effectiveness are not well understood. Community interviews and workshops were used to create firstly a qualitative Causal Loop Diagram and secondly a quantitative dynamic model to represent the Community Health Promoter ‘system’ in Kenya. Key components of the system include workforce, services delivered by community health promoters, supply chain and community trust. The model highlights the known variations in CHP resourcing and demand health needs across counties/subcounties due to different socio-economic status and geographical variability, wealth and resources level which impacting accessibility. The results show the need to recruit to anticipate population growth and to increase supervision / training, the requirement for a reliable supply chain and the relationship between community trust and demand. Demand for CHP services will always outstrip supply; the model gives policy makers a visual and comparative tool to decide where to best apply scarce resources for optimum service delivery. The Community Health Promoter service is highly relevant to policy makers because of its high political profile so this project provides a timely aid to them to enable them to implement effective change.