Nairobi Programme

Bio

Dorothy is a Social scientist, with over 10 years’ experience in qualitative research, with a focus on health systems research and medical anthropology. Her doctoral project was trying to understand the experiences of mothers of hospitalised sick newborns in Nairobi using ethnographic approaches. She has a keen interest in Maternal, neonatal, and Child Health, health systems, health care access, and delivery as well as patient experiences research.

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Current Work

Her current project is focused on exploring the potential for using mothers’ experiences narratives and digital stories of pre-term birth in Kenya as educational tools to improve people-centered care in LMICs. She is also a Co-Investigator on a project Learning to Harness Innovation in Global Health for Quality Care (HIGH – Q). This project seeks to evaluate how the introduction of essential neonatal technologies coupled with the increase in nursing numbers in the neonatal units affects the quality of care provided. She is co-leading work on patients' and staff experiences of introduction of new technologies and workforce interventions. She has previously worked on the Inter-bio 21st study, leading the qualitative component of this project, where she assessed the perceptions and experiences of the use of ultrasound screening services for women attending routine antenatal clinics (ANC) in Kilifi County Hospital (KCH).

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Recent publications

Hospital reform: Listening to patient and staff experience, and engaging the broader public..
Oluoch, D., Molyneux, S., Kagwanja, N., Hinton, L.
Hospitals in Health Systems: Opportunities for Efficient, High-quality, and Integrated Care, (2024). :87-102

Women's autonomy and maternal health decision making in Kenya: implications for service delivery reform - a qualitative study.
Olwanda, E., Opondo, K., Oluoch, D., Croke, K., Maluni, J., Jepkosgei, J., Nzinga, J.
BMC Womens Health, (2024). 24:181

Not just surveys and indicators: narratives capture what really matters for health system strengthening.
Oluoch, D., Molyneux, S., Boga, M., Maluni, J., Murila, F., Jones, C., Ziebland, S., English, M., Hinton, L.
Lancet Glob Health, (2023). 11:e1459-e1463

The hidden emotional labour behind ensuring the social value of research: Experiences of frontline health policy and systems researchers based in Kenya during COVID-19.
Nzinga, J., Oliwa, J., Oluoch, D., Jepkosgei, J., Mbuthia, D., Boga, M., Musitia, P., Ogola, M., Muinga, N., Muraya, K., Hinga, A., Kamuya, D., Kelley, M., Molyneux, S.
PLOS Glob Public Health, (2023). 3:e0002116

Mothers' involvement in providing care for their hospitalised sick newborns in Kenya: a focused ethnographic account.
Oluoch, D., Hinton, L., English, M., Irimu, G., Onyango, T., Jones, C. O. H.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth, (2023). 23:389