Examining the links between community participation and health outcomes: a review of the literature

As a key principle of Primary Health Care (PHC) and Health Systems Reform, community participation has a prominent place in the current global dialogue. The purpose of this article is to review research seeking to link community participation with improved health status outcomes programmes. The results show that in most studies, community participation is defined as the intervention seeking to identify a direct causal link between participation and improved health status modeled on Randomized Control studies (RCT). The majority of studies show it is not possible to examine the link because there is no standard definition of ‘community’ and ‘participation’. The paper argues that community participation is better understood as a process . These processes may include community uptake, ownership and sustainability for health improvements. However, more research is needed to ensure their validity.

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Rifkin S. Examining the links between community participation and health outcomes: a review of the literature. Health Policy and Planning. 2014;29(suppl 2):ii98-ii106. doi:10.1093/heapol/czu076