Abstract:
Background: Structural barriers often prevent rural Kenyans from receiving healthcare and diagnostic testing. The
Bridging Income Generation through grouP Integrated Care (BIGPIC) Family intervention facilitates microfinance
groups, provides health screenings and treatment, and delivers education about health insurance coverage to
address some of these barriers. This study evaluated the association between participation in BIGPIC microfinance
groups and health screening/disease management outcomes.
Methods: From November 2018 to March 2019, we interviewed a sample of 300 members of two rural
communities in Western Kenya, 100 of whom were BIGPIC microfinance members. We queried participants about
their experiences with health screening and disease management for HIV, diabetes, hypertension, tuberculosis, and
cervical cancer. We used log-binomial regression models to estimate the association between microfinance
membership and each health outcome, adjusting for key covariates.
Results: Microfinance members were more likely to be screened for most of the health conditions we queried,
including those provided by BIGPIC [e.g. diabetes: aPR (95% CI): 3.46 (2.60, 4.60)] and those not provided [e.g.
cervical cancer: aPR (95% CI): 2.43 (1.21, 4.86)]. Microfinance membership was not significantly associated with
health insurance uptake and disease management outcomes.
Conclusions: In rural Kenya, a microfinance program integrated with healthcare delivery may be effective at
increasing health screening. Interventions designed to thoughtfully and sustainably address structural barriers to
healthcare will be critical to improving the health of those living in low-resource settings.