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Table 4 Community mapping exercise, May 2011: eliciting local knowledge to inform local priority setting

From: Exploring how different modes of governance act across health system levels to influence primary healthcare facility managers’ use of information in decision-making: experience from Cape Town, South Africa

A community mapping exercise, conducted in May 2011, was designed to help facility managers better understand the health needs of the communities they served, as well as appreciate the resources inherent in the community. A workshop with more than 80 participants brought subdistrict and facility managers together with representatives of civil society. Participants worked in area-specific groups defined by the primary healthcare facilities catchment areas. They were given large-scale maps of their area, and worked together to identify local health needs and to plot health resources and gaps onto their map. Common health risks identified across areas were illegal shebeens (drinking houses), drug abuse, illegal waste dumping and dangerous road intersections. In some areas a lack of services for the elderly was expressed and in others gender-based violence. Facility and subdistrict managers felt that this was an invaluable exercise in helping them to look beyond the walls of their facilities to understand better the needs of the communities they served.