IMPACT OF COMMUNITY PARTICiPATION ON HEALTH SERVICE DELIVERY IN UGANDA: A CASE STUDY OF BUSHENYI DISTRICT

ABSTRACT

The study sought to examine the impact of community participation on health service delivery in uganda: A case study of Bushenyi District. The study objectives were; to identify the forms of community participation in health service delivery in Bushenyi District, to determine the extent of health service delivery in Bushenyi District and to examine the relationship between comnmnitv participation and health service delivery in Bushenyi District. The study applied a case study research design to reflect aspects of perception, feelings, experiences, facts and emotional feelings of the study respondents in finding out the impact of community participation on health service delivery in Bushenyi District, Uganda. This was because the research questions that were generated necessitate observing explanatory, descriptive and analytical aspects of the research. The target population of the study however involvedl60 participants where(l0) District health officers. (30) Private health officers, (20) Top authorities of Bushenyi District, (20) Community leaders and (80) Local peasants. A sample size of 114 respondents was determined through purposive and random sampling methods. The top authorities of Bushenyi District, communii~,’ leaders and private health officers were purposely selected because they dealt with issues concerning community participation and the provision of health services in rural areas. Data was collected from primary and secondary sources using questionnaires and interviews, and wellanswered questionnaire were organized into for meaningful interpretation by sorting and editing. ihe data was presented in tabular form, pie charts and bar graphs with frequencies and percentages. The findings revealed that B ushenyi District Community’s had limited protected wells and this was according to the majority of 52.3% of the respondents who disagreed. Against the 44.7% who agreed that there were adequate protected wells in Bushenyi District communities. On safe drinking water still, the majority of families consume safe drinking water, according to the 54.4% of the respondents who agreed as compared to the 37.7% of the respondents who disagreed. The study achieved the overall purpose that was to examine the effect of Community participation on the provision of Health services in rural areas in Uganda with the case study of Bushenyi District. The study recommends that the health workers should intensify health education and promotion activities aimed at sensitizing the communities on healthy nutrition. They must involve the community in all the levels of planning, implementation. monitoring and evaluation, such as; determining time/dates of the education, educating fellow community members on nutrition. and rendering assi stance to nutrition health educators.