The Benefits of Cooperation Between University, NGOs and Communities – The case of IPREDE in Ceará

Abstract

The Instituto da Primeira Infância (IPREDE) is an extension program of the Federal University of Ceará (UFC). Students from the school of Medicine collaborate with the Institute by exercising their knowledge practically. The community, the University and the organization harvest advantages out of this cooperation. In this regard, the research question asks which would be the benefits to each part. To analyse the benefits of this collaboration, this study uses three categories of benefits drawn on from Cruz et al. (2011), which identify advantages (i) for the NGO and for society; (ii) for the researchers involved; (iii) for the university. This research was exploratory, qualitative and used semi-structured interviews. The data analysis utilized Bardin’s (1977) content analysis technique. Findings highlighted how the relationship between NGOs, community and university has been beneficial for all parties, as this interaction tackles an important social demand: the lack of appropriate paediatric healthcare.