Community center for human development: program for African-Colombian families based on the participatory action research approach

Abstract

To describe the process of construction of a program of Primary Health Care (PHC) for African-Colombian families in Guapi, Cauca. Participatory action research (PAR). The PHC program is a collective construction between the IAP Group and the Commission for Support and Follow-up (CAS), carried out in four phases: 1. Field preparation; 2. Approximation to the universe of the African-Colombian families of Guapi; 3. Building the program "Center for Human Development: with strength, joy and love we go 'pa'lante' families"; and 4. Evaluation and socialization of results. The collective construction of the program was conducted from the perspective of PHC, PAR and the cultural context, where the experts are the community, health professionals and institutions who have the ability to examine, reflect and participate in the transformation of reality based on their everyday life and view of the world. The starting point involves planning, developing and evaluating actions in healthy environments, relating not only to the physical space, but also to the work with families and community, taking into account needs, perceptions, beliefs, and actions towards health. The "Human Development Center Community" program allows a process of community participation towards achieving healthy environments to improve the health of the African-Colombian population, through the active participation of families, community, institutions and health professionals who, based on reality and knowledge exchange, generate actions directed to health of the large families of Guapi.