By the community, for the community - A Scoping Study of Rural Communities Promoting Health through Participatory Research

Abstract

Background: A peace deal after an armed conflict in Colombia is still at stake. Expanding rural health care is mean to maintain peace. Every rural community is different, so participatory methodologies PAR and CBPR, are proposed to involve rural community members in the process of developing health care. The aim of this thesis is to explore what other CBPR/PAR projects have been conducted to promote health with rural low-income communities and to assess what made them successful or not. <p>

<p>Material and method: Scoping study was performed to discover the scope of the research field. We performed a literature search in Medline. <p>

<p>Results ands discussion: We identified five success factors for conducting CBPR/PAR with rural communities: creating ownership, complying with community input, sharing results, involving stakeholders, and investing in the community. The findings of this thesis are similar to other studies. Few negative consequences of CBPR and PAR are reported. Higher levels of participation seem to bear stronger benefits. <p>

<p>Conclusion: There are many ways to conduct CBPR/PAR, and they appear to be a fitting choice for expanding rural health care in Colombia. Further research should be conducted on the effects of CBPR/PAR beyond anecdotal evidence, with standardized outcome measures.