Strategies for effective community participation in public health emergency preparedness and response in Nigeria: a systematic review

Management of public health emergencies is a challenge in resource constrained environments, like Nigeria. In such contexts, community engagement is a key tool for effective emergency responses. This review aimed to examine the state of community engagement strategies in Nigeria's public health emergency preparedness and response framework, while highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. The PRISMA guidelines were used for this review. Medline, Scopus, Embase, CINAHL, and APA PsycINFO databases, were searched for studies focused on community engagement in public health emergencies in Nigeria, between the period from 2014 to 2024. Thirteen studies were selected and assessed using UNICEF's key indicators for community engagement. There were strengths and gaps identified in Nigeria's community engagement in public health emergencies. Some studies recorded some community involvement, but there was limited capacity building, community ownership of response, inclusion of marginalized groups and two-way communication. While most studies recognized the need for adaptability and context-specific engagement, only a few included community inputs in prioritizing project priorities or in the design process. The review shows that although there have been some improvements in the level of community engagement in the public health emergency responses in Nigeria, there are still gaps in some of the activities, such as empowerment, communication, and ensuring the involvement of marginalized groups. Improving Nigeria's health system sustainability and strengthening the public health system's capacity to respond to outbreaks and become more resilient depends on addressing these gaps.