Robinson Karuga is a Health Systems and Policy Research specialist. His area of specialization is in governance, community health systems research, with a focus on community participation in governance and embedding of quality improvement approaches. Karuga is a co-investigator and project manager in several multi-country Research Consortia such as ARISE (Accountability and Responsiveness in Informal Settlements for Equity), REACHOUT, SQALE and, MOSAIC,
Karuga is in the final stages of his Ph.D. in Transdisciplinary Research in Global Health at the Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He holds a Master of Science in Public Health from Debrecen Medical University (Hungary) and a BSc in Biomedical Science (Egerton University, Kenya).
Recent peer reviewed publications:
a) Karuga R, Steege R, Njoroge I, Liani M, Wiltgen Georgi N, Otiso L, et al. Leaving No One Behind: A Photovoice Case Study on Vulnerability and Wellbeing of Children Heading Households in Two Informal Settlements in Nairobi. Social Sciences. 2022;11(7):296.
b) Adams C, Kiruki M, Karuga R, Otiso L, Graham SM, Beima-Sofie KM. “Your status cannot hinder you”: the importance of resilience among adolescents engaged in HIV care in Kenya. BMC Public Health. 2022;22(1):1272.
c) Egid, B.R.; Roura, M.; Aktar, B.; Amegee Quach, J.; Chumo, I.; Dias, S.; Hegel, G.; Jones, L.; Karuga, R.; Lar, L.; et al. ‘You want to deal with power while riding on power’: global perspectives on power in participatory health research and co-production approaches. BMJ Glob Health 2021, 6, doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006978.
d) Teixeira de Siqueira-Filha, N., J. Li, E. Kibuchi, Z. Quayyum, P. Phillips-Howard, A. Awal, M. I. H. Mithu, F. Manzoor, R. Karuga, S. Saidu, J. Smith, V. Sai, S. Garimella, I. Chumo, B. Mberu, R. Tolhurst, S. Mazumdar, V. Rao, N. Farnaz, W. Alam and H. Elsey (2021). “Economics of healthcare access in low-income and middle-income countries: a protocol for a scoping review of the economic impacts of seeking healthcare on slum-dwellers compared with other city residents.” BMJ Open 11(7): e045441.
e) Hussein S, Otiso L, Kimani M, Olago A, Wanyungu J, Kavoo D, Rose Njiraini, Sila Kimanzi and Robinson Karuga. Institutionalizing Community Health Services in Kenya: A Policy and Practice Journey. Global Health: Science and Practice. 2021;9 (Supplement 1):S25.
f) Aktar B, Alam W, Ali S, Awal A, Bayoh M, Chumo I, Karuga R, et al. How to prevent and address safeguarding concerns in global health research programmes: practice, process and positionality in marginalised spaces. BMJ Global Health. 2020;5(5):e002253.
g) Vallières F, Kok M, Mahmud I, Sarker M, Jeacocke P, Karuga R, et al. Measuring motivation among close-to-community health workers: developing the CTC Provider Motivational Indicator Scale across six countries. Human Resources for Health. 2020;18(1):54.
h) Karuga R, Mireku M, Muturi N, McCollum R, Vallieres F, Kumar M, et al. Supportive supervision of close-to-community providers of health care: Findings from action research conducted in two counties in Kenya. PLoS One. 2019;14 (5):e0216444.
i) Karuga R, Kok M, Mbindyo P, Hilverda F, Otiso L, Kavoo D, et al. “It’s like these CHCs don’t exist, are they featured anywhere?”: Social network analysis of community health committees in a rural and urban setting in Kenya. PLOS One. 2019;14 (8):e0220836.
j) McCollum R, Taegtmeyer M, Otiso L, Tolhurst R, Karuga R, Mireku M, Martineau T, et al. Applying an intersectionality lens to examine health for vulnerable individuals following devolution in Kenya. International Journal for Equity in Health. 2019;18(1):24.
