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. 2025 Mar 11:13:1439150.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1439150. eCollection 2025.

Community engagement approaches and lessons learned: a case study of the PRECISE pregnancy cohort study in Kenya

Onesmus Wanje  1 , Angela Koech  1   2 , Mai-Lei Woo Kinshella  3 , Grace Mwashigadi  1 , Alice Kombo  1 , Grace Maitha  1 , Nathan Barreh  1 , Hiten D Mistry  4   5 , Marianne Vidler  3 , Rachel Craik  4 , Marie-Laure Volvert  4 , Peter von Dadelszen  4 , Marleen Temmerman  1   2   6 ; PRECISE Network
Collaborators, Affiliations

Community engagement approaches and lessons learned: a case study of the PRECISE pregnancy cohort study in Kenya

Onesmus Wanje et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Community engagement (CE) has been recommended as an important ethical consideration for health research to enhance informed consent and exchange knowledge between researchers and community members. The purpose of this paper is to describe how CE was developed and delivered for the PRECISE prospective pregnancy cohort study in Kenya. PRECISE enrolled pregnant women in antenatal care, followed them up to the postpartum period, and collected data and biological samples to enable the study of placental disorders in sub-Saharan Africa. Initially CE was aimed at informing the community about the study, establishing community-wide acceptance of the research and addressing concerns about biological sample collection to facilitate participation in the study. CE later evolved to be a platform for mutual learning aiming to deepen the community's understanding of research principles and informed consent and providing a feedback loop to researchers. We engaged diverse stakeholders including health workers and managers, local administrators, religious and traditional leaders, older women, pregnant women, non-pregnant women and men. We utilized a variety of CE approaches and tools adapting to the specific contextual factors at the study sites. Achievements included widespread understanding of informed consent and research principles, clarification of misconceptions, and dispelling of fears regarding biological sample collection. The relationship with the community was strengthened evidenced by frequent inquiries and active participation in CE activities and the research study. For effective CE, we recommend involvement of community members in the CE team and continuous and adaptive CE throughout the study period.

Keywords: Kenya; cohort studies; community engagement; community participation; lessons learnt; pregnancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of Kaloleni and Rabai sub-counties showing the study sites for the PRECISE study in Kenya (46).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pathway of community engagement and target groups.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pictogram of PRECISE lab staff collecting blood from a mother’s vein.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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