Factors that influence the impact of public participation in primary health care financing decision-making processes: a protocol for a realist synthesis

This is a protocol for a realist synthesis. The primary research question is: In what circumstances (C) and through what mechanisms (M) does public participation in primary health care financing decision-making processes (I) shape equity of outcomes and responsiveness to community needs (O)?Sub-questions include: What outcomes have been used to consider the impact of public participation in primary health care (PHC) financing decisions? What are the main context-mechanism-outcome configurations that may explain variation in the effectiveness achieved of direct public participation in PHC financing decisions? What are the attributes of public participation interventions, how are they implemented and what are the related institutional structures that can be measured to assess the progress and influence of public participation?