Participación social para la construcción de un modelo integral en salud con poblaciones rurales

Rural and dispersed communities are highly vulnerable both due to state neglect and lack of economic, technological and human resources for health care. The objective is to describe community social participation as a strategy for the construction of a comprehensive health management model with rural populations in the Colombian Pacific. A mixed methods study was carried out, and an approach with elements of the Action Research Participation methodology. Observation techniques, eight in-depth interviews with community leaders, nine focus groups, and a semi-structured questionnaire on population characteristics and community risks were included for 547 families (indigenous and Afro) in rural Buenaventura (Colombian Pacific). The most relevant results are two: Elements for the proposal to build a comprehensive management model for each community with an intercultural perspective, based on the concept and knowledge of the social actors; and the design of a primary care route that integrates social actions in community health. It is concluded that social participation is a crucial strategy in the development and management of comprehensive health models to face the needs of highly dispersed rural areas.