"Be like one team": An exploration of interorganizational partnerships in the Nairobi informal settlement of Mukuru Open Access

Abstract

Background

Recognizing communities as dynamic change agents provides a powerful foundation for effective and sustainable community health promotion and community development. Identifying and strengthening the capacity of a community to address challenges and sustain solutions is an important construct through which to build public health interventions for health promotion. A key dimension of community capacity is that of interorganizational relationships (IORs). Developing a rigorous and holistic understanding of IORs in the traditionally deficit-defined setting of a slum has the potential to further the contemporary commitment to participatory slum development work for improved community health.

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is two-fold: (1) to explore the nature of partnership as perceived by workshop participants during the 2012 Mukuru on the Move Partnership Project and (2) to analyze these findings in conjunction with survey results and network images in order to paint a multidimensional picture of partnerships in the informal settlement of Mukuru in Nairobi, Kenya.

Methods

The two workshops used participatory workshops to engage asset leaders and community members in key questions focusing on the meaning, benefits, and challenges of partnerships in Mukuru. Workshop information was entered into MAXQDA, and the author to used thematic analysis to identify themes within each key question.

Findings

Workshop participants present Mukuru as an interconnected community with both internal and external partners and linkages among diverse organizations. Participants define partnership by a common drive and collaborative relationship. Participants note the benefits of partnership in terms of strengthening of services, access to resources, and unity alongside challenges within partnership relationships and through unfulfilled promises. Workshop themes add context and depth to selected network images.

Conclusion

The participatory workshops present the strong, interconnected nature of interorganizational relationships within Mukuru. The mixed-method approach is a useful methodology through which to understanding IORs and community capacity within an informal settlement. Application in this and other settings provides a valuable foundation on which to build community-driven slum development and health promotion.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction 1

Introduction & Rationale 2

Problem Statement 6

Purpose Statement 7

Research Questions 7

Significance Statement 8

List of Key Terms 8

Chapter 2: Literature review: community capacity, interorganizational

relationships, and slum settings 10

Introduction 11

Community capacity for health promotion 11

Interorganizational relationships in public health 17

Methodologies for exploring interorganizational relationships 24

Community participation and settings 33

Defining and understanding slums 34

Slum populations: global, sub-Saharan African, and Kenyan 35

Health issues within slums: global, sub-Saharan African, and Kenyan 38

Organizational relationships and participatory development work in slums 41

Summary and project relevance 44

Chapter 3: Background, Methodology, and Findings 46

Background of the Mukuru on the Move Partnership Project 47

Introduction 47

ARHAP, Assets, and Participatory work 48

Religious Health Assets and HIV/AIDS 49

Mapping Religious Health Assets: The WHO Initiative 50

Community Health Asset Mapping in Mukuru 52

The Mukuru on the Move Asset Directory 55

The Mukuru on the Move Partnership Project 57

The Interorganizational Relationship Survey 60

Methodology of Workshops and Thematic Analysis 67

Introduction 67

Workshop setting 67

Workshop participants 68

Workshop design and data collection procedures 70

Thematic analysis methodology 76

Collaboration with the Mukuru on the Move Team 80

Limitations 81

Findings 85

Introduction 85

Asset Workshop Findings 87

Community Member Workshop Findings 112

Comparison Findings 121

Conclusion & Summary 124

Chapter 4: Discussion, Conclusions, and Implications & Recommendations 126

Discussion 127

Introduction 127

Partnership in Mukuru 129

Exploring interorganizational relationships within an informal settlement 135

Exploring the interconnectedness of community capacity dimensions through interorganizational relationships 137

Generating an in-depth understanding of partnerships: a mixed-methods approach 138

Conclusions 146

Implications & Recommendations 149

A. Mukuru 149

B. Slum development 150

C. Methodology 151

References 152

Appendix 160

Appendix A: Preliminary Report 161

Appendix B: Workshop Development Manual 177

Appendix C: Asset Workshop 186

Appendix D: Community Member Workshop 199

Appendix E: Thematic Analysis Manual 210

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Rollins School of Public Health
Department	Hubert Department of Global Health
Degree	MPH
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Public Health
Keyword	CBPR Participatory workshop Interorganizational relationship Partnership Informal settlement Kenya Mixed-method Slum Mukuru Health promotion Community capacity Network analysis
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Kiser, Mimi, Emory University
Committee Members	Blevins, John, Emory University
Partnering Agencies	Emory University schools, faculty or affiliated programs University, college or educational institution (other than Emory)

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