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WHDL - 00011712

Kekeli Women: The Impact of Being A Community Health Promoter in Ghana, West Africa

Kathrin Hoertig

Resource Types

Academic (Thesis, Dissertation, Etc.)

Resource Languages

English

Institutional Repository

Description / Abstract

The Kekeli Project seeks to improve the day to day health of individuals in Akatsi, Ghana (West Africa) by empowering lay women to serve as health promoters within their own villages and communities. These women volunteer to provide basic health education, blood pressure screening, wound care, and safe delivery assistance. Point Loma Nazarene University has been working with this group through a summer study abroad program since 2015. Previous studies have demonstrated the positive impact of lay health promoters on the health of their communities. However, there are few studies that evaluate the impact of participation as a lay health promoter on the woman, herself. This qualitative study sought to understand the lived experiences of nine Kekeli women. Face to face interviews were conducted after a regularly scheduled Kekeli training event. Analyses of emergent themes indicate several beneficial outcomes as a result of “being” a Kekeli woman: an increase in self-esteem and self-confidence, status elevation within the community and feeling respected by family, peers and community. They also reported personal and family-related health benefits as a result of their own increased knowledge and expertise. Many women also described the significant bond the Kekeli women have to each other and the sense of “family” from this group. The only negative factor noted was a lack of pay. This study adds strength to the value of community health promoters not only to improve the health of the community but to also improve the health and lives of those who conduct the work.

Arete: The PLNU Honors Journal