Health Policy and Planning; 18(2): 205-213
© Oxford University Press
2003
Public participation in health planning and priority setting at the district level in Uganda
1 Centre for International Health and Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Norway and
2 Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, USA
Objective: To explore the experiences of the public and leaders with participatory planning and priority setting in health, in a decentralized district in Uganda.
Methodology: An exploratory qualitative approach, involving in-depth interviews with health planners at the national, district and community levels (n = 12), and five group discussions at community level with women (two groups), men, youths and adolescents (n = 51). The analysis adapted some principles from grounded theory. The five levels of the participation framework by Rifkin (1991) were used to assess the actual level of participation in the study population.
Results: Uganda has established structures for participatory planning. Within this context, district level respondents reported to have gained decision-making powers, but were concerned about the degree of financial independence they had. The national level respondents were concerned about the capacity of the districts to absorb their new roles. Actual involvement of the public in priority setting and poor communication between the different levels of the decentralization system, despite the existing structures, were additional concerns. Public participation is mainly through representatives. Majority participation is mainly at health benefits and programme activity levels. Decision-making, monitoring and evaluation, and implementation are still dominated by the locally elected leaders due to reported economic, social and cultural barriers that hinder the participation of the rest of the public.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  L. Gilson and N. Raphaely The terrain of health policy analysis in low and middle income countries: a review of published literature 1994-2007 Health Policy Plan., September 1, 2008; 23(5): 294 - 307. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. A. Bruni BA BScN, A. Laupacis MD MSc, D. K. Martin PhD, and for the University of Toronto Priority Setting in Public engagement in setting priorities in health care Can. Med. Assoc. J., July 1, 2008; 179(1): 15 - 18. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. D. Goold, A. K. Biddle, G. Klipp, C. N. Hall, and M. Danis Choosing Healthplans All Together: A Deliberative Exercise for Allocating Limited Health Care Resources Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law, August 1, 2005; 30(4): 563 - 602. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|