Caracteristicas de la participacion comunitaria en programas urbanos de atencion primaria

Abstract

In 1984 a study was made of 46 marginal neighborhoods in the city of Bogota to determine the salient characteristics of community participation in primary programs. In addition to describing the situation, the study used statistical methods to determine the relationships among the different aspects of participation. Among 315 neighborhoods, 18 were earmarked for study and 28 chosen at random as controls. In each community participation was evaluated by a method that quantifies both the amplitude and the totality of the instruments and examines the form of management and community financing. The results indicate that the promotor and health committee are the instruments that most strongly affect the amplitude of participation. The promotor also obtained the highest score for totality, followed by the health committee. In addition, the health promotor who is member of the community is associated with high scores for amplitude, and with comanagement and financing, which attests to his involvement with the community. Conversely, the independent health committee showed a distinct association with amplitude, totality, or financing. Analysis of the work of the instruments indicated that participation was concentrated at first in the execution phase, then in the planning, and lastly in monitoring and evaluation. No cases of self-management were detected; comanagement was found in 18 neigborhood and