|
Title |
Community participation in rural primary health care:
intervention or approach? |
Author(s) |
Robyn Preston, Hilary Waugh, Sarah Larkins and Judy Taylor - Personal Name
|
Subject |
Rural Health |
Publisher |
Australian Journal of Primary Health |
Publishing Year |
2010 |
Specific Detail Info |
Community participation is considered important in primary health care development and there is some
evidence to suggest it results in positive health outcomes. Through a process of synthesizing existing evidence for
the effectiveness of community participation in terms of health outcomes we identified several conceptual areas of
confusion. This paper builds on earlier work to disentangle the conceptual gaps in this area, and clarify our common
understanding of community participation. We conducted a research synthesis of 689 empirical studies in the
literature linking rural community participation and health outcomes. The 37 final papers were grouped and
analysed according to: contextual factors; the conceptual approach to community participation (using a modification
of an existing typology); community participation process; level of evidence; and outcomes reported. Although
there is some evidence of benefit of community participation in terms of health outcomes, we found only a few
studies demonstrating higher levels of evidence. However, it is clear that absence of evidence of effect is not
necessarily the same as absence of an effect. We focus on areas of debate and lack of clarity in the literature.
Improving our understanding of community participation and its role in rural primary health care service design and
delivery will increase the likelihood of genuine community-health sector partnerships and more responsive health
services for rural communities. |
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