AbstractsEducation Research & Administration

Political and social pressures call for transparency and greater citizen participation in creating solutions to health issues facing communities and in determining policy in constructing healthcare services. This ethnographic research provides a description of factors affecting lay participation in policy formation and management discussions within Federally Qualified Health Care organizations of a local health care network. A participatory evaluation was performed on data collected through observations, interviews and document reviews. The evaluation provided data validation and prioritization of the findings that the evaluation group determined to be important to their ability to be participants in the policy discussion and formulation. The study generated a participant centered description and recommendations that can be useful in suggesting implications for policy and practice improvement and in guiding future research in this area.