Community engagement and local governance for health equity through trust: lessons from developing the CONNECT Initiative in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Community engagement and local governance are important components of health interventions aiming to empower local populations. Yet, there is limited evidence on how to effectively engage with communities and codevelop interventions, especially in Southeast Asian contexts. Despite rapid progress, the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) still has high maternal and child mortality, with essential service coverage showing significant disparities across socioeconomic strata.

Community engagement for stakeholder and community trust in healthcare: Short-term evaluation findings from a nationwide initiative in Lao PDR.

Background: Trust remains a critical concept in healthcare provision, but little is known about the ability of health policy and interventions to stimulate more trusting relationships between communities and the health system. The CONNECT (Community Network Engagement for Essential Healthcare and COVID-19 Responses Through Trust) Initiative in Lao PDR provided an opportunity to assess the community-level impact of a trust-building community engagement approach.

Methods: A mixed-method process evaluation was implemented from 10/2022-12/2023 among 14 diverse case study communities in four provinces across Lao PDR.

Reaching the unreached through building trust: a mixed-method study on COVID-19 vaccination in rural Lao PDR.

Introduction: The global COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been impacted by socioeconomic disparities and vaccine hesitancy, but few studies examine reasons for changed attitudes. In Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), a nationwide government-led initiative was developed in response to COVID-19, focused on community health ownership and trust in primary healthcare. The intervention team including health and governance sectors conducted capacity-building workshops with local staff and community representatives and visited villages for vaccination outreach.