Understanding community participation/engagement in healthcare services from a public health perspective

ABSTRACT Community engagement involves enhancing connections, trust, collaboration with self-efficacy, and resilience. Community engagement also creates opportunities for prompt understanding and shaping community behavior significantly with enhanced emergency response during crises. There are divergent viewpoints that highlight the multifaceted nature of community participation (CP) and its potential utility across various contexts and goals. So, this review aims to address the informational gap in understanding CP in healthcare services with a public health perspective. The concept of participation is subject to significant interpretation in public health reflecting different objectives and priorities within different groups. The various approaches of community-oriented, community-based, community-managed, and community-owned are complementary rather than exclusive, each suited to specific objectives of community engagement. CP in public health is valued for its intrinsic worth as an end in itself or as a tool to accomplish broader objectives. It is crucial for all stakeholders to establish a common shared understanding for the purpose and rationale of CP. This is based on the given clarity of genuine engagement as granting decision-making power or as a mere fulfillment of mandated obligations in the domain of public health. A renewed engagement with communities and healthy settings is imperative with emphasized health promotion actions as central interventions inclusive of equity, inclusion, cohesion, and empowerment.