The Role Of Participatory Communication In Health Policy Making In Ghana

Ghana has been implementing the Community-based Health Planning and Service (CHPS) initiative as a national health policy for over twenty years. The CHPS program is designed for delivering Primary Health Care services to under-served population who mostly reside in economically poor and hard to reach locations. Over the years studies looking at various aspects of the operation of the policy have found that community members and other stakeholders lack proper understanding of the program. This study analyzed qualitative data collected in two districts in Northern and Volta Regions of Ghana to assess health workers and community members' perspectives on the role of communication in the implementation of the CHPS policy. The study utilized Airhihenbuwa (1989) PEN-3 cultural model as the framework to evaluate the cultural relevancy of communicating and delivering the program. The study found that CHPS is framed around the relationship and expectations domain of the PEN-3 model and that communication plays a significant role in CHPS implementation as core activities for initiating decisions, planning and delivery of health services involve communication processes including community engagement and participation and dissemination of best practices. The study makes key contribution to the PEN-3 cultural model for evaluating community based health interventions. For advancing policy and program development it recommends the strengthening of communication processes in CHPS scale up for sustainability and effective implementation of the policy.

Children in the West African country of Ghana may face many challenges to their safety and well-being, including trafficking, child labour, sexual abuse, violent discipline, gender inequality, and neglect. This paper relates a journey into the lives of the residents of a small village in Northern Ghana and explores the role of participatory communication in understanding the issues and making life better for their children. Through an ethnographic study of the culture and the community's perception of the needs of children, the field of education and the difficulties of the local school emerge as a priority for the village population. Choices and plans are made for a grassroots initiative to address one of the problems at the school. The author shares her discoveries in this reflexive, personal account.

This technical brief draws on the findings of the study to offer insights into what factors make it more or less likely that research will feed into policy and practice in Ghana. It also provides an up-to-date snapshot of the range of actors involved in conducting research in the country as well as their institutional profile. This learning aims to inform efforts by national governments, as well as funders, to develop and strengthen existing institutions towards enhanced uptake of research. The research in this technical brief is part of a multi-country study commissioned by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research to understand the evidence-to-policy process around health decisions in Ghana, Ethiopia and Mozambique.

This book is the first of its kind within the African region to combine scholarly perspectives from the fields of Strategic Communication Management and Communication for Development and Social Change. It draws insights from scholars across the African continent by unravelling the complementary nature of scholarship between the two fields, through the lens of prevailing governance and sustainability challenges facing African countries, today. This edited volume covers issues that have adversely affected the achievement of goals related to humanitarian upliftment, development and social change for all African nations. Consequently, citizen participation, which lies at the heart of these challenges when considering the question of sustainable governance and policy development for social change in an African context is addressed. To this end, a reflection is also made on various case studies that exist where local citizens do not inform sustainable development programmes, while the promotion of bottom-up development and social change is largely replaced by top-down instrumental action approaches and hemispheric communication instead of strategic communication. Themes explored include: ● Communication for social change, bottom-up development and social movements in the local government sphere ● Strategic communication in governance, planning and policy reforms ● The role of multi-stakeholder partnerships in achieving development of objectives geared towards good governance in Africa ● Public participation, protests, and resistance from 'below' ● Public sector health communications and development ● Media relations, accountability and contested development narratives with the Fourth Estate ● Social media and eParticipation in government development programs.

This incisive Handbook critically examines the role and place of media and communication in development and social change, reflecting a vision for change anchored in values of social justice. Outlining the genealogy and history of the field, it then investigates the possible new directions and objectives in the area. Key conclusions include an enhanced role for development communication in participatory development, active agency of stakeholders of development programs, and the operationalization of social justice in development.