Peoples’ Expectations of Responsive Health Systems: Insights from Maternity Care in Vietnam

Abstract

Health systems responsiveness is the “health system’s ability to meet the population’s legitimate expectations”. Despite growing recognition of the importance of responsiveness in recent years, several theoretical and empirical gaps remain. Theoretically, there is limited explicit engagement with and understanding of what corresponds to a legitimate expectation of care. Moreover, current analytical frameworks of responsiveness and resultant empirical work do not yet sufficiently consider the broader contextual conditions which define what people expect from their health systems. Such a consideration is particularly important given the political, economic, and health system transitions and ch..