Facilitating the action of community representatives in a health service: the role of a community participation coordinator

摘要: Commitments to community participation are common in health policy, yet ways maximise the input and impact of representatives service delivery care remain elusive, lack empirical evidence under-theorised. The role Community Participation (CP) Coordinators involved an Australian were examined a triangulated multi-method, multi-site ethnographically informed three year study. Formal fieldwork observation just over 42 hours meetings together with informal interactions field staff members in-depth interviews discussions 10 Representatives, 19 seven CP employed during study period. Four key roles that undertake support facilitate action operating within identified our analysis: 1) Building skills confidence; 2) Engaging them agendas for action: 3) Helping navigate understand system; 4) Advocating staff. A fifth advocating externally outside groups building coalitions is suggested as important, but was not strongly represented data. This offers new model synthesising coordinating facilitating services which may be transferable other settings. Our findings call attention need employ facilitator who can support, engage, advocate representative’s influence policy practice.