Journal Article

What works in engaging communities? Prioritising nutrition interventions in Burkina Faso, Ghana and South Africa

Sorgho, Hermann, Nonterah, Engelbert A., Dalaba, Maxwell, Chatio, Samuel, Hardy-Johnson, Polly, Ward, Kate A., Barker, Mary, Kehoe, Sarah H., Rwafa-Ponela, Teurai, Tugendhaft, Aviva, Watson, Daniella, Danis, Marion, Lawrence, Wendy T., Compaoré, Adelaide, Boua, P. Romuald, Erzse, Agnes, Hofman, Karen J.

2023

Overview

\"Choosing All Together\" (CHAT), is a community engagement tool designed to give the public a voice in how best to allocate limited resources to improve population health. This process evaluation explored the mechanisms through which CHAT generates community engagement. The CHAT tool was adapted and implemented for use in two rural communities (Nanoro, Burkina Faso, and Navrongo, Ghana) and one urban township (Soweto, South Africa) to prioritize maternal and child nutrition interventions. Community discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and translated into English. Twenty-two transcripts, including six each from Navrongo and Soweto and 10 from Nanoro, were analysed thematically to generate data driven codes and themes to explain mechanisms underlying the CHAT process. The process evaluation was based on the UK MRC process evaluation guidance. Seven themes describing the functions and outcomes of CHAT were identified. Themes described participants deliberating trade-offs, working together, agreeing on priorities, having a shared vision, and increasing their knowledge, also the skills of the facilitator, and a process of power sharing between participants and researchers. Participants came to an agreement of priorities when they had a shared vision. Trained facilitators are important to facilitate meaningful discussion between participants and those with lower levels of literacy to participate fully. CHAT has been shown to be adaptable and useful in prioritising maternal and child nutrition interventions in communities in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and South Africa. Conducting CHAT in communities over a longer period and involving policy-makers would increase trust, mutual respect and develop partnerships.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Biology and Life Sciences / Burkina Faso / Child / Community / Community involvement / Community participation / Decision making / Ethics / Evaluation / Ghana / Health insurance / Human nutrition / Humans / Infant nutrition / Maternity & paternity leaves / Medical research / Medicine and Health Sciences / Nutrition / People and Places / Priorities / Public health administration / Qualitative research / Rural areas / Rural communities / Rural Population / South Africa / Teams