ArticleBMC health services research2017
Social accountability in primary health care in West and Central Africa: exploring the role of health facility committees.
Article in BMC health services research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Consumers' and health providers' views and perceptions of partnering to improve health services design, delivery and evaluation: a co-produced qualitative evidence synthesis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of decentralization on the functionality of health facility governing committees in lower and middle-income countries: a systematic literature review.Global health action · 2022Pooled it
- Health system responsiveness: a systematic evidence mapping review of the global literature.International journal for equity in health · 2021Pooled it
- Improving social accountability processes in the health sector in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2018Pooled it
- Governance, coordination, and accountability in public health emergency preparedness and response: A scoping review.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Do health facility governing committees improve health system performance? An ecological study of Mainland Tanzania.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Beliefs of Pentecostal pastors on the use of antiretroviral treatment among Pentecostal Christians living with HIV in a suburb of Cape Town-South Africa: a community health systems lens.Health policy and planning · 2025Article
- Has stakeholder participation in health facility governing committees promoted social accountability? A qualitative study in Tanzania.Global health action · 2024Article
- Power and positionality in the practice of health system responsiveness at sub-national level: insights from the Kenyan coast.International journal for equity in health · 2024Article
- Perceived Public Participation and Health Delivery in Local Government Districts in Uganda.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Unsung heroes in Ghana's healthcare system: the case of community health volunteers and community health management committee.Health research policy and systems · 2024Article
- Understanding health system responsiveness to public feedback at the sub-national level: Insights from Kilifi County, Kenya.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- A qualitative exploration of how a community engagement approach influences community and health worker perceptions related to family planning service delivery in Togo.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2024Article
- Social Accountability in Health System Governance: A Scoping Review.Iranian journal of public health · 2024Article
- How effectively are social accountability mechanisms being applied in mental health services within the newly federalized health system of Nepal? A multi-stakeholder qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Successes, weaknesses, and recommendations to strengthen primary health care: a scoping review.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2023Article
- Health service quality in 2929 facilities in six low-income and middle-income countries: a positive deviance analysis.The Lancet. Global health · 2023Article
- Article
- "Like a broom tied together": A qualitative exploration of social cohesion and its role in community capacity strengthening to support integrated health in Nigeria.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Community engagement initiatives in primary health care to achieve universal health coverage: A realist synthesis of scoping review.PloS one · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSocial accountability has been emphasised as an important strategy to increase the quality, equity, and responsiveness of health services. In many countries, health facility committees (HFCs) provide the accountability interface between health providers and citizens or users of health services. This article explores the social accountability practices facilitated by HFCs in Benin, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
methodsThe paper is based on a cross-case comparison of 11 HFCs across the three countries. The HFCs were purposefully selected based on the (past) presence of community participation support programs. The cases were derived from qualitative research involving document analysis as well as interviews and focus group discussions with health workers, citizens, committee members, and local authorities.
resultsMost HFCs facilitate social accountability by engaging with health providers in person or through meetings to discuss service failures, leading to changes in the quality of services, such as improved health worker presence, the availability of night shifts, the display of drug prices and replacement of poorly functioning health workers. Social accountability practices are however often individualised and not systematic, and their success depends on HFC leadership and synergy with other community structures. The absence of remuneration for HFC members does not seem to affect HFC engagement in social accountability.
conclusionsMost HFCs in this study offer a social accountability forum, but the informal and non-systematic character and limited community consultation leave opportunities for the exclusion of voices of marginalised groups. More inclusive, coherent and authoritative social accountability practices can be developed by making explicit the mandate of HFC in the planning, monitoring, and supervision of health services; providing instruments for organising local accountability processes; strengthening opportunities for community input and feedback; and strengthening links to formal administrative accountability mechanisms in the health system.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.