Abstract
BackgroundCommunity engagement (CE) has been regarded as a critical element of successful health programs to achieve “the health for all” goals. Numerous studies have shown that it plays a significant role in reducing inequalities, improving social justice, enhancing benefits, and sharing responsibility towards public health. Despite this, the extant literature of community engagement in public health (CEPH) has topic-focused boundaries and is scattered across disciplinary. Large-scale studies are needed to systematically identify current status, hotspots, knowledge structure, dynamic trends, and future developments in this field.MethodsThe bibliometric techniques were applied in the analysis of publications on CEPH in Web of Science Core Collection from Thomson Reuters. One thousand one hundred two papers out of 70.8 million publications over the period of 1980 to 2020 and their 15,116 references were retrieved as the sample set. First, basic characteristics of publications, including distributions of geography, journals and categories, productive authors and frequently cited articles, etc. were obtained. Then, four bibliometric methods, i.e. social network analysis, co-citation analysis, co-occurrence clustering, and burst detection, were further conducted to sketch the contours of the structure and evolution of CEPH.ResultsBetween Jan 1, 1980, and Apr 25, 2020, CEPH has attracted a sharp increase in interest all over the world. Total 117 countries or regions have participated in the field of CEPH and the contributions are geographically and institutionally distinct. The United States is the key region performing such research, which accounts for more than half of the total number of publications. Developing countries, such as South Africa, India, Brazil and China also contributed a lot. The advancements of CEPH are marked by historically momentous public health events and evolved from macroscopic strategies to mesoscopic and microscopic actions. Based on keyword clustering and co-citation clustering, we propose a 4O (i.e. orientation, object, operation, and outcome) framework of CEPH to facilitate a better understanding of the current global achievements and an elaborate structuring of developments in the future.ConclusionThis study draws an outline of the global review on the contemporary and cross-disciplinary research of CEPH which might present an opportunity to take stock and understand the march of knowledge as well as the logical venation underlying research activities which are fundamental to inform policy making.
Highlights
The lethal rampage of COVID-19 makes a thorough revelation of the fragment and fragility in the current global public health system [1,2,3]
Bibliometrics plays an important role in showing the current status of research in a certain field or discipline, identifying important journals and scholars in the field, delineating the knowledge structure of the discipline field and tracking the dynamic evolution of the development of the field
Over the past four decades, the development of community engagement in public health (CEPH) has attracted a sharp increase in interest all over the world, especially since 1980
Summary
The lethal rampage of COVID-19 makes a thorough revelation of the fragment and fragility in the current global public health system [1,2,3]. After the SARS crisis, 196 countries across the globe elaborate an international legal instrument, the International Health Regulations, laid stress on working with communities in response to the international spread of disease in 2005 [19]. Later, both WHO report of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health [20] and World Report on Primary Health Care [21] highlighted the important role of CE in empowerment and local capacity building again [22]. Large-scale studies are needed to systematically identify current status, hotspots, knowledge structure, dynamic trends, and future developments in this field
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
