BMC Health Services Research publishes supplement on UCC

Communities are more than a geographic location; they are a site of struggle and also a dynamic engine of change. Unlocking their capabilities to strengthen health systems requires understanding and adapting to local context, engaging a diversity of actors and working with the productive tensions inherent to collective action.

BMC Health Services Research has recently published a Supplement on Unlocking community capabilities across health systems across low and middle income countries - edited by Asha S. George, Kerry Scott, Eric Sarriot, Barun Kanjilal and David H. Peters. This supplement draws on extensive Future Health Systems research and experience in unlocking community capabilities to strengthen health systems in low- and middle-income countries.

Articles in the suplpement inlcude:

• Unlocking community capabilities across health systems in low- and middle-income countries: lessons learned from research and reflective practice Asha S. George, Kerry Scott, Eric Sarriot, Barun Kanjilal and David H. Peters

• Synergies, strengths and challenges: findings on community capability from a systematic health systems research literature review Asha S. George, Kerry Scott, Vrinda Mehra and Veena Sriram

• What is the role of community capabilities for maternal health? An exploration of community capabilities as determinants to institutional deliveries in Bangladesh, India, and Uganda Ligia Paina, Lalitha Vadrevu, S. M. Manzoor Ahmed Hanifi, Joseph Akuze, Rachel Rieder, Kitty S. Chan and David H. Peters

• How is perceived community cohesion and membership in community groups associated with children’s dietary adequacy in disadvantaged communities? A case of the Indian Sundarbans Debjani Barman and Lalitha Vadrevu

• Identifying community healthcare supports for the elderly and the factors affecting their aging care model preference: evidence from three districts of Beijing Tianyang Liu, Xiaoning Hao and Zhenzhong Zhang

• Unlocking community capabilities for improving maternal and newborn health: participatory action research to improve birth preparedness, health facility access, and newborn care in rural Uganda Elizabeth Ekirapa-Kiracho, Gertrude Namazzi, Moses Tetui, Aloysius Mutebi, Peter Waiswa, Htet Oo, David H. Peters and Asha S. George

• Unlocking community capability through promotion of self-help for health: experience from Chakaria, Bangladesh Abbas Bhuiya, Syed Manzoor Ahmed Hanifi and Shahidul Hoque

• Expressing collective voices on children’s health: photovoice exploration with mothers of young children from the Indian Sundarbans Upasona Ghosh, Shibaji Bose, Rittika Bramhachari and Sabyasachi Mandal

• Exploring pathways for building trust in vaccination and strengthening health system resilience Sachiko Ozawa, Ligia Paina and Mary Qiu

• How can health systems research reach the worst-off? A conceptual exploration Bridget Pratt and Adnan A. Hyder