The development of task sharing policy and guidelines in Kenya

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Workforce Development
• Healthcare Policy

Background:

• Sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya, faces a critical health worker shortage, falling significantly below WHO recommendations.
• Task sharing is a recommended strategy to increase healthcare access in resource-limited settings.
• Kenya's Ministry of Health developed a national task sharing policy and guidelines (TSP) to optimize health resource utilization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the process of developing, adopting, and implementing Kenya's national task sharing policy.
• To address the critical shortage of health workers and improve healthcare service delivery.

Main Methods:

• A collaborative, multidisciplinary approach was used, involving a Policy Advisory Committee and technical working groups.
• Methods included a desk review of relevant policies, guidelines, scopes of practice, and literature.
• The process involved consensus-building to draft the task sharing policy and guidelines.

Main Results:

• The Kenya TSP was developed and approved between February 2015 and May 2017.
• The policy identified priority tasks for sharing among different health cadres, informed by evidence.
• Dissemination to all county healthcare facilities occurred, but implementation was halted by a judicial order in 2019.

Conclusions:

• Task sharing has the potential to enhance healthcare access in resource-limited environments.
• Harmonizing the TSP with clinical practice and other policies, alongside revising training curricula, is crucial for effective implementation.
• Monitoring and evaluation are essential to ensure appropriate implementation and quality outcomes.