Listening to Citizens to Create Effective Health Systems

Feedback Labs | May 30, 2024

Share this:

Based in Tanzania, Wezesha partners with governments to create nationwide digital citizen feedback platforms for the health sector. They believe in the power of listening to citizens to create responsive and accountable health systems. They work with governments to build platforms that include data collection, feedback analysis, and decision-making tools. In Tanzania’s healthcare system, the lack of citizen feedback channels impedes access to accurate, timely information about citizens’ needs and healthcare provider performance. Wezesha works to address this gap with a mobile citizen feedback service, providing valuable insights into care quality and fostering accountability among healthcare workers and officials. Their pioneering effort aims to establish Africa’s first nationally-scaled digital citizen feedback service in healthcare.

Both clients and the government are urging for enhancements to the current client feedback systems. The primary existing method for collecting client feedback relies on the suggestion box, known as “Sanduku la Maoni.” Unfortunately, 60% of clients find these existing mechanisms ineffective. These systems are neither anonymous nor easily accessible. Consequently, clients lack motivation to provide feedback, resulting in low volumes of feedback. Wezesha wants to foster a feedback culture, both in terms of receiving and listening.

Motivation for Incorporating Feedback
The first major question Wezesha brought to the discussion was how the organization can motivate healthcare workers & government officials to incorporate the civilian feedback that Wezesha gathers. Some suggestions during the discussion included making clear connections between feedback and a positive impact, such as demonstrating that incorporating feedback may save money. Many members of the discussion also suggested having people who have utilized Wezesha’s surveys make testimonials to show healthcare workers & government officials the value of incorporating feedback into their work. Another idea was to have refresher workshops for healthcare workers and government officials to keep them updated on the benefits of incorporating feedback and the responsibilities they have to serve the public.

Assessing Commitment
Wezesha also asked members of the discussion for ideas on how they can assess whether there is genuine ownership and commitment to the system of feedback they have developed. Discussion members brought up resources such as Keystone Accountability and Partnership for Transparency as models that currently exist. Other suggestions included making feedback incorporation a government-wide initiative rather than assigning it to a specific official and increasing local employment so that healthcare and government workers have more of a stake and voice in the local community.

Closing the Loop
The last question Wezesha had was how they can effectively close the feedback loop with citizens. Ideas brought up during the discussion included creating a version of a “What We Heard – What We’ll Do” chart to allow citizens to see how their feedback is being used. Other discussion members recommended resources such as Accountability Lab and Social Labs to help celebrate government and healthcare officials who incorporate feedback and keep a record of successful use of feedback.

Wezesha’s main takeaway from the discussion is that one of their priorities should be to work on changing the instinct many people have that feedback is an inherently negative thing. This LabStorm discussion highlighted many different ways that feedback can be celebrated and viewed as a positive thing, providing resources and steps that Wezesha can take going forward to make feedback seem more beneficial and positive.

Learn More About LabStorms

LabStorms are collaborative problem-solving sessions designed to help organizations tackle feedback-related challenges or share what’s working well in their practice.