ArticlePloS one2022
Engaging citizens in local health policymaking. A realist explorative case-study.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Living labs as catalysts for integrated primary care: insights from a comprehensive community survey and co-creative design of community-based prevention and primary care.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Collaboration between healthcare citizen initiatives and primary healthcare care providers: semi-structured interviews and focus groups with Dutch stakeholders.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Citizen-Led Integrated Care in Rural Depopulation Areas: Addressing Depression and Frailty in Older Adults.Annals of geriatric medicine and research · 2026Article
- Coproduction Within Intersectoral Collaboration in the Context of a Neighborhood with Low Socioeconomic Scores in The Netherlands.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Patient and public involvement and engagement to improve impact on antimicrobial resistance.Nature communications · 2025Article
- What should be publicly funded in the Colombian health system? A mixed methods study of citizens' perceptions.BMJ open · 2025Article
- How do policymakers involve citizens in advancing health? A mixed-method qualitative study in municipalities in the Netherlands.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Tracking the Development of Community Engagement Over Time: Realist Qualitative Study.Journal of participatory medicine · 2024Article
- Understanding why and how youth-friendly health services improve viral load suppression among adolescents and young people living with HIV in Nigeria: realist evaluation with qualitative comparative analysis.BMJ global health · 2023Article
- Voices of society: the emergence of civil-society practices aiming to engage in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.BMJ global health · 2023Article
- Children orphaned from COVID-19 in Thailand: maximize use of civil registration database for policies.Frontiers in public health · 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
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMunicipalities have been trying to involve citizens as citizen participation is thought to improve municipalities' accountability, the quality of services, and to align policies and services to communities' needs. This study examined citizens' participation preferences in policymaking by investigating their health policy priorities, expectations of involvement, and required support.
methodsFor this case-study the realist evaluation approach was applied to focus groups with citizens and to a workshop with a local panel consisting of professionals, citizens and citizen representatives.
resultsThis study showed that citizens want to be involved in (health) policymaking with the aim of improving their communities' quality of life and living environment and prioritised local services and amenities (e.g. suitable housing, public transport, health and care services). Instead, professionals' priorities were focussed on singular public health issues related to prevention and lifestyle factors. The results also show that citizens felt responsible for driving citizen participation and representing community needs to the municipality, but needed the municipality to improve their communication and accessibility in order to do so successfully. Furthermore, the professionals on the panel indicated that they needed training on how to reach out to citizens. Such training should highlight how to better align their language to citizens' lived experiences. They also wanted their organisations to provide more space, flexibility and resources to build relationships with citizens in order to provide improved communication and accessibility to citizens.
conclusionThe difference in priorities between citizens and professionals highlights the importance of involving citizens in policymaking. Moreover, citizens' involvement can act as a lever for change to bring a wider range of services and policy sectors together and has the potential to better align policies to citizens' lived experiences and hopefully increase the democratic legitimacy of policymaking. However, to fulfil such potential municipalities will need to invest in improving their accessibility and communication with communities.
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.