NDLI: Community perceptions of health accountability meetings with local politicians to improve healthcare quality: a qualitative study in Western Uganda

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Lee, HaEun Fiseha, Neyat Bateisibwa, Jordan Moyer, Cheryl A. Greenberg, Joshua Maffioli, Elisa
Abstract	Background Lack of accountability within healthcare systems contributes to suboptimal healthcare quality and ultimately poor health outcomes, especially in low-income countries. In Uganda, our research team implemented a pilot project of quarterly health accountability meetings between community members and their local political leaders to discuss healthcare needs and strategies for quality improvement. In this study, we examine the community members’ understanding and perceptions of the health accountability meetings, as well as the perceived impact of the meetings on local healthcare services and community life. Methods We conducted a total of 12 focus group discussions (FGDs), half with men and half with women, in November 2022 across six randomly chosen communities out of the ten communities where health accountability meetings were held. We audio taped, transcribed, and translated all FGDs into English. We collected data on demographics, understanding of the meetings, and perceived changes within healthcare services and the community from 111 participants. Two researchers analyzed the data using an inductive thematic approach, generating five themes. Results We found the following themes: (1) increased inclusivity and promotion of bidirectional communication; (2) increased understanding of patient rights and practicing of collective empowerment by the community; (3) improved provider behavior; (4) enhanced relationships among politicians, community members, and healthcare providers; and (5) identified needs for future improvements. Conclusion Through this qualitative study, we found that the community members perceived the accountability meetings as beneficial in improving the local healthcare services and community life. The study demonstrates the need to prioritize the voices of local communities in efforts to address the accountability gaps, as well as the potential for utilizing the relationship between community members and politicians to address accountability shortfalls in other governmental functions beyond healthcare. Trial registration N/A.
Related Links	https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12889-024-21025-3.pdf
Ending Page	10
Page Count	10
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	14712458
DOI	10.1186/s12889-024-21025-3
Journal	BMC Public Health
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	24
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2024-12-18
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Public Health Medicine Epidemiology Biostatistics Vaccine Environmental Health Political accountability Governance Healthcare service Meetings Collective empowerment Uganda Medicine/Public Health
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Journal Impact Factor	3.5/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	3.9/2023

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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