[Public participation in health. A review of reviews]

This study aims to synthesize knowledge about the role of the public's participation in the definition, prioritization, rationalization, monitoring or control of policies, plans, governance, investment/disinvestment, and design of health services.

Review of review articles (narrative or systematic) about consumer participation indexed in PubMed until August 2016.

Forty-two reviews were identified (eighteen systematic and twenty-four narrative). The extent of participation was provincial/regional or national. The issues addressed covered: What is public participation? What benefits are expected? Who participates in the representation of citizens? How and to what extent do citizens participate and with what outcomes? The impact of public participation has hardly been studied.

There is moderate evidence in support of the argument that public participation legitimizes decisions of the Health Authorities, and improves outcomes of health policies. There is consensus on how participation techniques should be applied but there is a need to inquire more deeply into the level of impact of this participation.