Communication Strategies

The researcher plans to investigate the social and economic characteristics of people receiving treatment for CVD in Kenya. CVD is an abbreviation for cardio-vascular diseases. The researcher will collect the qualitative and quantitative data that relate to the economic background of the patients, their demographic characteristics, the family structures, the community structures, other socio-economic support systems, income at family and personal level, personal and family assets and then access to financial resources and  other material resources. The end goal of the researcher is to find out the common characteristics exhibited by the patients who have accessed medical or treatment services for Cardio-Vascular diseases.  The  findings of the research should be helpful to the government and policy stakeholders in the health sector in Kenya, in drawing out a clear depiction of the population being served through their CVD treatment program. The findings will also help other similar countries that are scaling up new treatment programs and have the need of establishing the common attributes of the population that is likely to seek care.

Background
CVD is a group of  heart-related diseases that also affect the blood vessels. These diseases also include all the diseases that affect the cardiovascular system. As such, CVD have similar causes and exhibit similar mechanisms and the treatments are also similar. Cardio-Vascular Diseases have been documented by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the largest killer diseases in the world that claim about seventeen million lives every year.  According to the WHO, these diseases result from various causes including use of tobacco, an unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity. The same source also shows that using alcohol aggravates the risk of getting heart attack.  Specifically, for in stance, when an individual does not exercise adequately and eats high calorie-cum-fat foods, the arteries may block thereby calling for medication or medical attention. If there is no prompt medical attention then this can turn into blockage of the arteries and ultimately cause a disease like heart attack.  Heart attacks may strike all of a sudden and may be fatal if immediate medical attention is not sought or availed. An overweight individual has higher chances of getting strokes or heart attacks.

Research methodology
Cardio-vascular diseases are most common in developing countries or countries that have population characterized by low or medium income levels. In fact, the WHO records that about 80 of the deaths that result from CVD occur in the countries where average income levels are low or medium. Women are affected more especially after their menopause though the risk is equally distributed for men and women in these regions. The ability to  access the requisite medical attention may be inhibited by economic resources, availability of transport, level of awareness, geography, or even family members.  

In this research, the researcher  wishes  to investigate these factors by interviewing CVD patients in six of the countrys eight provincial hospitals and the two of the national hospitals. The Kenyas healthcare system is arranged in a hierarchical manner where the most complicated cases are taken to the highest level hospital. The researcher hopes that at each point of interview (that is, at each hospital) he will be in a position to interview at least five patients, three nurses and one doctor. Through these procedures, the researcher will collect and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data that relate to various aspects of the patients which include their demographic information, family structures, the structures of the  community where they come from, the patients local transportation and how accessible to the transportation systems it is. In addition, the researcher will also collect and analyze data that relates to the income an asset possession for the patients. Level of education and access to financial services will also be among the factors that the researcher will explore.

The researcher will carry out the research in collaboration with Kenyan-Heart National Foundation. This is a non-governmental medical charity that works to prevent, reduce, control, advocate for treatment and better management of heart-related diseases. It does its work through creation of public awareness and through education its mission is centered on prevention as the best mechanism of dealing with CVD. The charity has worked together with community groups in Kenya to promote its work in the country. The researcher has, on several occasions, communicated with them and they have accepted to help in easing the access to interviewees thus facilitate efficiency of the entire process. Kenyan-Heart National Foundation have also accepted my request for assistance in the preparation of the necessary data collection tools, identification of a translator for some of the interviews given that some interviews might entail communication in Swahili. The translator is to be paid out of the researchers budget. In addition, they have agreed to allow me use their office facilities in the preliminary review and cleaning of the collected data. They will also be of great help in determining the hospitals to be visited for the interviews out those in the country. Their recommendations with respect to this will help the researcher to come out with the most representative sample from the target population of CVD patients and providers.

After gathering, cleaning and analyzing the data from Kenya, the researcher will be able to describe the socio-economic attributes or characteristics that are common amongst CVD patients who have accessed treatment services. Thereafter, the information gathered from the study will help in matters of planning and policy implementation to facilitate programs that can help in management, prevention and treatment of CVD.

Limitations of the Study
The researcher will only deal with cases of patients who have accessed treatment services those who might have CVD and have not accessed treatment may be beyond the scope of the study. The findings of the study may therefore not be generalizeable to such individuals who remain untreated. The researcher however strongly believes that the entire research will be helpful to many countries of similar characteristics to provide new insights in management, treatment and control or prevention of CVD especially given that these are diseases that have been identified as they are responsible for over three-quarters of deaths in the low and middle-income countries.  Timeline and logistics
The researchers travels are as indicated below
May 23rd -24th Travel to Nairobi, Kenya
May 25th-30thWork with Kenyan-Heart National Foundation staff in Nairobi on finalizing the tools of data collection tools and putting groundwork for travel logistics
June 1st-31stCollect data at 6 hospitals (3 days of work are required with 2 days of travel per hospital)
July 1st-14thData cleaning at Kenyan-Heart National Foundation office in Nairobi
July 15thReturn air travel from Nairobi, Kenya

Budget
Budget Notes
Airfare The researcher has budgeted 2,000 for round-trip airfare between Kansas City, United States (MCI) and Nairobi, Kenya (NBO). This amount is derived from quotes the researcher received through bargain airfare websites concerning cost of air travel tickets on the researchers intended travel dates May 23rd departure and July 25th return.

Accommodations in Nairobi The researcher expects to use a daily budget of 25day for the 30 days that he will spend in Kenya before and after collecting data in the field. This is derived from the cost of daily accommodations for single rooms with shared bathroom and kitchen and which are easily accessible to the Kenyan-Heart National Foundation offices. All the rest are costs that are based on estimates provided by the Kenyan-Heart National Foundation.