Ward Development
Committee (WDC) is a community-based citizens’ representative group that aims
to promote community participation and ownership in primary health care (PHC)
system, these committees are meant to serve as a link between communities and
health facilities by identifying health and social needs and mobilizing local
resources. However, there are concerns about their onboarding training. Hence,
this study investigated influence of recruitment and onboarding training on the
performance of WDCs in PHC facility management in Southwest Nigeria. A
descriptive survey research design was employed. Population of this study was
4,161. Multi-stage sampling procedures was used to select 325 WDC members, 65
OICs, & 13 MOHs samples for this study. An adapted questionnaire and
in-depth interview were used to collect data. Data were analyzed and presented
through descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency, percentage,
mean, standard deviation, regression & multiple regression analysis at a
significance level of P = 0.05. The result showed that there is significant
influence of onboarding training with a weighted mean of 2.13 and a standard
deviation of 0.90. The multiple correlation coefficient (R) is 0.693 showing a
joint influence between recruitment and onboarding training on the performance
of WDCs’ performance. This study concluded that there the onboarding training
was inadequate or absent, with 83.3% of respondents expressing dissatisfaction
with the quality of training received. Therefore, this study recommended that,
the State Primary Health Care Development Board/Agency and Local Government
Health Authorities adhere to provisions in the National Guidelines for
Development of PHC System in Nigeria, that ensured standardized, comprehensive
onboarding trainings for WDCs, with technical support from relevant health
institutions such as NPHCDA, WHO, and UNICEF.
Keywords: Recruitment, Onboarding Training, Influence, Ward Development Committee, Performance.
