The ongoing STEMA research on building blocks of positive community health has entered the second stage in Kenya. 

STEMA, a UK-based global health research organization, has partnered with three Kenyan non-profit organizations to carry out a systems thinking-rooted community health research to help communities in the country identify often ignored and underutilized systems of resources and assets that contribute to positive community health.

The research organization is working with us in Baringo County and with SWAP and PDO Kenya in Siaya and Nakuru counties respectively.

Speaking to a team of researchers participating in the study during a pre-research training session last year, Dr. Geordan Shannon of University College London (UCL) said the overall goal of the multi-site study is to “develop a set of tools to identify systems of local resources and support better decision-making for health in Kenya.”  

The study kicked off in November 2021, with researchers from STEMA’s partner organizations in Kenya simultaneously collecting data in Nakuru, Siaya and Baringo counties in the first stage of the three-phased research project. 

The second stage of the study to understand how communities measure the quantity and quality of resources that contribute to positive health is currently ongoing with researchers preparing for field work in the three diverse research sites in the country.

Our team has hugely benefited from the study, gaining extensive research and data analysis skills to harness in their careers and when developing programs to improve maternal and child health in marginalized and rural communities in Kenya.

The STEMA research on building blocks of positive community health also provides us with an opportunity to understand the broader community health systems of resources and potential tools to deploy when designing and implementing our programs to reduce child and maternal deaths, particularly in Baringo County.

By David Njiru

David is a strategic communications specialist working with MAMA Kenya.