In:
Journal of Health Organization and Management, Emerald, Vol. 26, No. 6 ( 2012-10-26), p. 758-777
Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to highlight the significance of integrated governance in bringing about community participation, improved service delivery, accountability of public systems and human resource rationalisation. It discusses the strategies of innovative institutional structures in translating such integration in the areas of public health and nutrition for poor communities. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on experience of initiating integrated governance through innovations in health and nutrition programming in the resource‐poor state of Chhattisgarh, India, at different levels of governance structures – hamlets, villages, clusters, blocks, districts and at the state. The study uses mixed methods – i.e. document analysis, interviews, discussions and quantitative data from facilities surveys – to present a case study analyzing the process and outcome of integration. Findings The data indicate that integrated governance initiatives improved convergence between health and nutrition departments of the state at all levels. Also, innovative structures are important to implement the idea of integration, especially in contexts that do not have historical experience of such partnerships. Integration also contributed towards improved participation of communities in self‐governance, community monitoring of government programs, and therefore, better services. Practical implications As governments across the world, especially in developing countries, struggle towards achieving better governance, integration can serve as a desirable process to address this. Integration can affect the decentralisation of power, inclusion, efficiency, accountability and improved service quality in government programs. The institutional structures detailed in this paper can provide models for replication in other similar contexts for translating and sustaining the idea of integrated governance. Originality/value This paper is one of the few to investigate innovative public institutions of a particularly vulnerable and poor region in India, and is unique in that it uses the lenses of governance and community mobilisation to explore this important, and under‐researched, topic.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1477-7266
DOI:
10.1108/14777261211277005
Language:
English
Publisher:
Emerald
Publication Date:
2012
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2109532-2
SSG:
3,2
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