Department of Population Health, Medical College, Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya.
Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health, Medical College, Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya.
Front Public Health. 2021 Jul 8;9:670239. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.670239. eCollection 2021.
Globally, male involvement in reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) is associated with increased benefits for women, their children, and their communities. Between 2016 and 2020, the Aga Khan University implemented the Access to Quality of Care through Extending and Strengthening Health Systems (AQCESS), project funded by the Government of Canada and Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC). A key component of the project was to encourage greater male engagement in RMNCH in rural Kisii and Kilifi, two predominantly patriarchal communities in Kenya, through a wide range of interventions. Toward the end of the project, we conducted a qualitative evaluation to explore how male engagement strategies influenced access to and utilization of RMNCH services. This paper presents the endline evaluative study findings on how male engagement influenced RMNCH in rural Kisii and Kilifi. The study used complementing qualitative methods in the AQCESS intervention areas. We conducted 10 focus group discussions (FGDs) with 82 community members across four groups including adult women, adult men, adolescent girls, and adolescent boys. We also conducted 11 key informant interviews (KIIs) with facility health managers, and sub-county and county officials who were aware of the AQCESS project. Male engagement activities in Kisii and Kilifi counties were linked to improved knowledge and uptake of family planning (FP), spousal/partner accompaniment to facility care, and defeminization of social and gender roles. This study supports the importance of male involvement in RMNCH in facilitating decisions on women and children's health as well as in improving spousal support for use of FP methods.
在全球范围内，男性参与生殖、孕产妇、新生儿和儿童健康（RMNCH）与妇女、儿童及其社区获得更多利益有关。2016 年至 2020 年，阿迦汗大学实施了“通过扩展和加强卫生系统获得优质护理（AQCESS）”项目，该项目由加拿大政府和加拿大阿迦汗基金会（AKFC）资助。该项目的一个关键组成部分是通过广泛的干预措施，鼓励在肯尼亚以父权制为主的基西和基利菲农村地区更多地参与男性生殖、孕产妇、新生儿和儿童健康。在项目接近尾声时，我们进行了一项定性评估，以探讨男性参与战略如何影响 RMNCH 服务的获取和利用。本文介绍了项目结束时的评估研究结果，即男性参与如何影响基西和基利菲农村地区的生殖、孕产妇、新生儿和儿童健康。该研究在 AQCESS 干预地区使用了互补的定性方法。我们在四个群体（包括成年女性、成年男性、少女和男青年）中进行了 10 次焦点小组讨论（FGD），共有 82 名社区成员参加。我们还与了解 AQCESS 项目的设施卫生管理人员和次县及县官员进行了 11 次关键知情人访谈（KII）。基西和基利菲县的男性参与活动与改善计划生育（FP）知识和采用率、配偶/伴侣陪同接受设施护理以及社会和性别角色去女性化有关。这项研究支持男性参与 RMNCH 在促进妇女和儿童健康决策以及改善配偶对 FP 方法的支持方面的重要性。
