Background:
The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that strengthening health systems, throughimproved leadership and management skills of health teams, can contribute to an increase inhealth-service delivery outcomes. The study was conducted in six provinces in the Republicof Kenya.
Methods:
The study used a non-randomized design comparing measures of key service deliveryindicators addressed by health teams receiving leadership and management training (theintervention) against measures in comparison areas not receiving the intervention.Measurements were taken at three time periods: baseline, endline, and approximately sixmonths post intervention. At the district level, health-service coverage was computed. At thefacility level, the percentage change in the number of client visits was computed. The t-testwas used to test for significance.
Results:
Results showed significant increases in health-service coverage at the district level(p = <0.05) in the intervention teams compared to the comparison teams. Similarly, therewere significant increases in the number of client visits at the facility level in the interventiongroup versus comparison facilities (P < 0.05).
Conclusions:
Strengthening the leadership and management skills of health teams, through team-basedapproaches focused on selected challenges, contributed to improved health service deliveryoutcomes and these improvements were sustained at least for six months.