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In Uganda, our research team implemented a pilot project of quarterly health accountability meetings between community members and their local political leaders to discuss healthcare needs and strategies for quality improvement. In this study, we examine the community members\u2019 understanding and perceptions of the health accountability meetings, as well as the perceived impact of the meetings on local healthcare services and community life.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>We conducted a total of 12 focus group discussions (FGDs), half with men and half with women, in November 2022 across six randomly chosen communities out of the ten communities where health accountability meetings were held. We audio taped, transcribed, and translated all FGDs into English. We collected data on demographics, understanding of the meetings, and perceived changes within healthcare services and the community from 111 participants. Two researchers analyzed the data using an inductive thematic approach, generating five themes.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>We found the following themes: (1) increased inclusivity and promotion of bidirectional communication; (2) increased understanding of patient rights and practicing of collective empowerment by the community; (3) improved provider behavior; (4) enhanced relationships among politicians, community members, and healthcare providers; and (5) identified needs for future improvements.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Through this qualitative study, we found that the community members perceived the accountability meetings as beneficial in improving the local healthcare services and community life. The study demonstrates the need to prioritize the voices of local communities in efforts to address the accountability gaps, as well as the potential for utilizing the relationship between community members and politicians to address accountability shortfalls in other governmental functions beyond healthcare.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Trial registration<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>N\/A.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-024-21025-3","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,18]],"date-time":"2024-12-18T15:12:24Z","timestamp":1734534744000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Community perceptions of health accountability meetings with local politicians to improve healthcare quality: a qualitative study in Western Uganda"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"HaEun","family":"Lee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Neyat","family":"Fiseha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jordan","family":"Bateisibwa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cheryl A.","family":"Moyer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Joshua","family":"Greenberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elisa","family":"Maffioli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,18]]},"reference":[{"issue":"Suppl 8","key":"21025_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e001551","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2019-001551","volume":"4","author":"A Bitton","year":"2019","unstructured":"Bitton A, Fifield J, Ratcliffe H, Karlage A, Wang H, Veillard JH, et al. 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BMC Med Ethics. 2013;14(S1):S4.","journal-title":"BMC Med Ethics"}],"container-title":["BMC Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s12889-024-21025-3.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1186\/s12889-024-21025-3\/fulltext.html","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s12889-024-21025-3.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,18]],"date-time":"2024-12-18T16:03:43Z","timestamp":1734537823000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s12889-024-21025-3"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,18]]},"references-count":29,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12]]}},"alternative-id":["21025"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s12889-024-21025-3","relation":{},"ISSN":["1471-2458"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1471-2458","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,18]]},"assertion":[{"value":"19 March 2024","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"9 December 2024","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"18 December 2024","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Ethics approval for the project was obtained from University of Michigan (#HUM00146736), Makerere University (#12.18.238), and the Uganda\u2019s National Council for Science and Technology (#SS265ES).","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"Alongside his academic position, JG serves as the Chief Executive Officer and as a board member of Progressive Health Partnership (PHP), the organization that carried out the intervention and data collection activities for this article. The author\u2019s relationship with PHP is unpaid. JB is as an employee of PHP.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}},{"value":"In this study, the authors\u2019 diverse backgrounds and roles significantly shaped the research process and its outcomes. JB, a Ugandan and co-founder of PHP, brought invaluable local insights and a nuanced understanding of the context, which were essential for the design and implementation of the study. JG, an economist and physician, is both a co-founder and the current director of PHP, overseeing all research activities and conducting the pilot intervention. As a permanent resident of Uganda, JG\u2019s experience in the local context greatly informed the study. HL, an early-career professor, co-led the project with JB, contributing to both the design and execution phases. EM and CAM, senior professors, provided extensive experience and oversight, ensuring the study\u2019s rigor and academic validity. The two Ugandan research assistants, CA and AT, were offered authorship positions but declined, as publication was not of interest to them. However, both CA and AT played a key role in facilitating the FGDs and collaborating with HL and NF to verify the coding process and the thematic analysis. GN and PG, both Ugandan research assistants, also contributed to translating and verifying all FGD transcripts, though their contribution did not meet authorship criteria. NF, a medical student, brought fresh perspectives and made important contributions to data analysis, interpretation, and manuscript development. Our varying levels of experience and expertise influenced our approach to the study and shaped our interpretations of the data. While HL, JG, and JB possess extensive experience working in Uganda, the senior perspectives of EM and CAM added a layer of academic robustness. The collaborative nature of our team enabled a comprehensive analysis, although it is important to acknowledge that our individual perspectives may have introduced different biases and interpretations.","order":5,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Positionality statement"}}],"article-number":"3526"}}