title: An analysis of the concept of participation within the context of health care planning.
abstract: This paper analyses the concept of participation using the model of concept analysis developed by Walker and Avant (1988). The concept was chosen for analysis because of its extensive but often unqualified use in literature associated with the reform of the British National Health Service. The Walker and Avant model was chosen because of its capacity to identify the empirical referents of the concept. The analysis considers the use of the concept in the health and social policy literature from the 1960s to date, identifies the defining attributes prior to creating a model, a borderline and a contrary case, summarizes the antecedents and consequences of participation and offers three empirical referents which could be used in the construction of instruments for nursing research. The paper concludes with an assessment of the limitations of the analysis, an example of the use of the empirical referents in a research review and the identification of issues for those who manage or develop nursing services.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chadderton
mesh_terms: D018166:Health Care Reform; D006285:Health Planning; D006801:Humans; D016294:Models, Nursing; D015399:Nursing Research; D010358:Patient Participation; D006113:United Kingdom