Does citizen participation in health care planning and provision have a clear purpose? Can it reasonably be considered a unified phenomenon? Current conceptual accounts – including a range of typologies descended from Arnstein's ubiquitous but misunderstood ‘ladder of participation’ – are inadequate. The popularity of citizen participation belies fundamental uncertainties about what it entails and its associated benefits. A more pragmatic and less normative usage of the term is vital for the future.
World Health Organisation. Declaration of Ama-Ata. International Conference on Primary Health Care. Alma-Ata, USSR, 1978.
2.
StewartEA. Governance, Participation and Avoidance: Everyday Public Involvement in the Scottish NHS, Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, 2012.
3.
ArnsteinSR. A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners1969; 35: 216–24.
4.
ConklinAMorrisZSNolteE. Involving the Public in Healthcare Policy: An Update of the Research Evidence and Proposed Evaluation Framework, Cambridge: RAND Europe, 2010.
5.
CrawfordMJRutterDManleyC. Systematic review of involving patients in the planning and development of health care. British Medical Journal2002; 325.
6.
TritterJQ. Revolution or evolution: the challenges of conceptualising patient and public involvement in a consumerist world. Health Expectations2009; 12: 275–87.
7.
FeingoldECitizen participation: a review of the issues. In: RosenHLeveySMetschJ (ed.). The Consumer and the Health Care System: Social and Managerial Perspectives, New York: Spectrum Publications, 1977.
8.
CharlesCDi MaioS. Lay participation in health care decision making: A conceptual framework. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law1993; 18.
9.
ThompsonAGH. The meaning of patient involvement and participation in health care consultations: A taxonomy. Social Science & Medicine2007; 64: 1297–310.
10.
HarrisonSDowswellGMilewaT. Guest editorial: public and user ‘involvement’ in the UK National Health Service. Health & Social Care in the Community2002; 10: 63–6.
11.
BochelCBochelHSomervillePWorleyC. Marginalised or enabled voices? ‘User participation’ in policy and practice. Social Policy & Society2008; 7.
12.
BarnesMWhose spaces? Contestations and negotiations in health and community regeneration fora in the UK. In: CornwallACoelhoVSP (eds). Spaces for Change?: the Politics of Citizen Participation in New Democratic Arenas, London: Zed, 2007.
13.
LowndesVPratchettLStokerG. Trends in Public Participation: Part 2 – Citizens’ Perspectives. Public Administration2001; 79: 445–55.
