Participants not Observers: Involving Beneficiaries as Co-assessors in Performance Analysis

Abstract

This commentary addresses the limited attention researchers and practitioners have given to the role service beneficiaries can and do play in performance analysis in health and human service organizations. We present a six-element framework for understanding that role at the individual, program and system level. The framework contrasts approaches that treat beneficiaries as passive versus active participants in performance analysis. We apply the framework to an imagined disability services organization. Future research should assess beneficiary engagement in performance analysis more systematically, including case studies, surveys of practice, and assessments of the effectiveness of these different approaches.