Improving quality through participation: a literature review of the benefits of participation in the context of NHSScotland's Healthcare Quality Strategy

This literature review explores the potential benefits gained from implementing well designed, good quality participation and engagement activity in healthcare services and how these benefits can contribute towards NHSScotland’s Healthcare Quality Strategy. It concludes that there is evidence to suggest that good quality patient and public participation in healthcare services can lead to an improvement in the person centredness, safety, effectiveness and efficiency of these services. Based on the literature reviewed here, the evidence would appear to show stronger benefits for participation by services users rather than the general public, and stronger outcomes for the safety and efficiency healthcare quality dimensions. However, to be effective, participation needs to be of high quality and part of a positive culture of participation.