Consumer Participation in Health Planning: Policy and Political Implications
Abstract
This paper examines the implementation of the National Health Planning and Resources Development Act (P.L. 93-641) in three San Francisco Bay Area communities during the years 1976-1980. It focuses on a study of the role of consumers in the planning process and the policy and political implications of their participation. The results of the study point to the need to distinguish the effects of citizen participation on program outcomes from the effects on citi zens' own interests in the policy area. This finding has implications for how and under what conditions we may want to encourage opportunities for citizen participation in policy in the future.