User:Makayladonald1/Healthcare in Kenya

Overview of Ethnic Favoritism in the Country
Kenya is an extremely diverse country with upwards of 42 ethnic groups and subgroups see the Demographics of Kenya with the most prominent groups being the Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo, Kalenjin, and Kamba. The differences in language and culture that come with this extensively diverse population have demonstrated how conflicts and ethnic favoritism can arise. Much of this conflict is rooted in the search for political power as there is a common belief that political power held by the ethnic majority preludes to influence throughout other facets of society. Many researchers argue that political leaders in power will distribute resources to their co-ethnic voters simply because of their ethnic identity, and although there are confounding theories explaining the ways in which leaders will of will not achieve this feat, the overall theory remains the same. In general, researchers have found that an uneven distribution of resources has caused an imbalance of resources and underdevelopment of some regions in the country.

Ethnic Favoritism in Healthcare
In following the evidence that ethnic favoritism leads to an increased amount of goods for groups sharing co-ethnic status with the president in Kenya it can be deduced that this pattern would translate into the healthcare realm as well as it does function as a public good. This article will examine the extent to which ethnicity could impact the distribution of public health resources in the country. It will also examine how ethnicity influences interpersonal interactions between patients and healthcare providers.

Ethnicity and Distribution of Healthcare as a Public Good
Since its independence, Kenya had a highly centralized government that is partially responsible for distributing healthcare resources. Recently, the country implemented a new system in place that requires individual counties to be responsible for the distribution of resources while the national government maintains responsibility for overseeing hospitals and capacity buildings. Much of Kenya’s issues in health inequity can be attributed to economic disadvantages and high poverty levels. Even where healthcare institutions exist many individuals do not use them and it was reported that those who live in more affluent urban areas are more likely to report their ills than those who live in rural areas. However, wealth distribution is also influenced by ethnic identity, as it is primarily focused on how much land someone has. Land attribution is

Social Capital and Health
Social capital is the perceived agency that someone has in terms of what benefits they can receive from their individual communities and society as a whole. A person's social capital can be influenced by their ethnic identity and how much perceived and literal power they have in relation to the power that their group has. In Kenya, it has been found that increased social capital has a positive correlation with decreased anxiety, stress, and overall health. Social capital, in general, has been shown to foster feelings of trust and reciprocity among individuals in their communities. However, there is also some data to show that social capital within a community especially communities that lack resources and rely on each other for benefits can cause anxiety and worry, as there is the added pressure of supporting each other.