Background: In South Africa, community participation has been embraced through the development of progressive policies to address past inequities. However, limited information is available to understand community involvement in priority setting, planning and decision-making in the development and implementation of public services.
Objective: This narrative review aims to provide evidence on forms, extents, contexts and dynamics of community participation in primary health care (PHC) and water governance in South Africa and draw cross-cutting lessons. This paper focuses on health and water governance structures, such as health committees, Catchment Management Agencies (CMA), Water User Associations (WUAs), Irrigation Boards (IBs) and Community Management Forums (CMFs).
Methods: Articles were sourced from Medline (Ovid), EMBASE, Google Scholar, Web of Science, WHO Global Health Library, Global Health and Science Citation Index between 1994 and 2020 reporting on community participation in health and water governance in South Africa. Databases were searched using key terms to identify relevant research articles and grey literature. Twenty-one articles were included and analysed thematically.
Results: There is limited evidence on how health committees are functioning in all provinces in South Africa. Existing evidence shows that health committees are not functioning effectively due to lack of clarity on roles, autonomy, power, support, and capacity. There was slow progress in establishment of water governance structures, although these are autonomous and have mechanisms for democratic control, unlike health committees. Participation in CMAs/WUAs/IBs/CMFs is also not effective due to manipulation of spaces by elites, lack of capacity of previously disadvantaged individuals, inadequate incentives, and low commitment to the process by stakeholders.
Conclusion: Power and authority in decision-making, resources and accountability are key for effective community participation of marginalized people. Practical guidance is urgently required on how mandated participatory governance structures can be sustained and linked to wider governance systems to improve service delivery.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2021.2004730 | DOI Listing |
BDJ Open
December 2024
Department of Medical Education, Virtual School of Medical Education and Management, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Objective: This study investigates the effectiveness of a newly developed smartphone-based application for teaching population oral health needs assessment to undergraduate dental students.
Methods: Target population in this study consisted of all students of Shahid Beheshti School of dentistry in the 7 and 8 semesters in the year 2023. The intervention group (7 semester) received teaching about population oral health needs assessment based on the book "Oral health surveys; basic methods", by means of an application, while the control group (8 semester) received the same content through self-learning activity.
Int J Ment Health Nurs
February 2025
Department of Nursing Science, Sungshin Women's University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Nursing students' negative perceptions of and reduced interest in individuals experiencing mental health challenges could lead to problems such as deteriorating quality of mental health nursing and lack of competent, qualified mental health nurses. Promoting changes and developments in mental health nursing education for greater effectiveness is pivotal. This study aimed to develop, introduce and validate a blended learning service user involvement programme for mental health nursing education-the first of its kind in South Korea.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Epidemiol
December 2024
Integrated Research Initiative for Living Well with Dementia, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology.
Background: Community social capital is associated with various health outcomes; however, its impact on mortality is not fully understood, particularly in non-Western settings. This study examined the association between community-level social capital and all-cause mortality among community-dwelling older Japanese adults.
Methods: The baseline data were obtained from a 2015 questionnaire survey for all 132,005 residents aged ≥65 years without long-term care insurance certification in Adachi Ward (consisting of 262 small districts) of the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Nihon Koshu Eisei Zasshi
December 2024
Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Research Team for Social Participation and Healthy Aging.
Objective This study examined the factors associated with the status of group activities provided to older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic by community groups aiming to improve the health and social interactions of older adults. Methods A mail survey was conducted with 372 leaders of neighborhood associations and Senior Citizen Clubs in November 2020 in Ward A, Tokyo. The questionnaire asked leaders about the status of group activities provided by neighborhood associations and the aforementioned clubs for older adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth Technol Assess
December 2024
Centre for Research in Public Health and Community Care, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK.
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