Strategies for Improving Healthcare Access for Underserved Populations: (Critical Review)
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- Category: Vol. 87, December 2019
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Strategies for Improving Healthcare Access for Underserved Populations: (Critical Review)
Abstract
Background: The understanding of components of commu-nity engagement (CE) models that are linked to better health outcomes is limited, despite the widespread use of CE in health promotion. Aim of Study: This study sought to assess the extent of the influence of community engagement (CE) on the health and health disparities of marginalized populations. It also aimed to identify the most effective methodological approaches for im-plementing CE and determine the components of CE that are acceptable, feasible, and effective when applied to disadvan-taged populations. Methods: The systematic review adhered to the require-ments set out by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. We conducted methodological evaluations of the papers listed by using rating systems. The in-vestigation concentrated on model synthesis to identify the cru-cial components of CE that are associated with good research results. It also included a comparative examination of positive study outcomes, methods, and quality indicators of CE. Results: Among the 24 studies that satisfied our inclusion criteria, 21 (87.5%) had a beneficial effect on health behaviors, public health planning, access to health services, health litera-cy, and other health outcomes. A majority of the studies (58%) were deemed to be of excellent quality, while 71% and 42% of the studies demonstrated strong community engagement in research and reached high levels of CE, respectively. The main components of Community Engagement (CE) that had an im-pact on health outcomes were: Genuine power-sharing, coop-erative partnerships, two-way learning, including beneficiary communities in research protocols by giving them a voice and agency, and using bicultural health professionals to implement interventions. Conclusion: The results indicate that if CE models are well created and implemented with active community engagement and involvement, they may contribute to enhanced health and health behaviors among marginalized communities. Further-more, we have identified many deficiencies in the existing assessment of cost-effectiveness (CE) in health intervention studies. This highlights the need for the development of novel methodologies to accurately estimate the influence of CE on health outcomes with greater rigor.