Local Participatory Projects in Public Health in Argentina

• In Event: The Activation and Consequences of Local Democratic Institutions

Abstract

Can local communities effectively address public health problems? What types of socio-economic and political contexts are more enabling of civic engagement in public health? Drawing from the literatures on local community participation and social capital, this paper analyzes 200 local participatory projects carried out in Argentina between 2007 and 2008, under the sponsorship of the National Ministry of Health. Coordinated by the public local health clinics, the local communities were in charge of identifying the most salient public health problem that they could address through community voluntary work and with a small grant for supplies or materials. Through a competitive process, these 200 projects were chosen among almost 600 submitted for consideration. This paper studies those funded projects, which span throughout the territory of Argentina’s 24 provinces. Among other issues, the paper will describe the types of projects and public health problems that were prioritized by the communities; the degree of successful completion of the projects; the gender of the participants; and the variation in completion rates controlling by whether the head of the local health clinic was male or female, and doctor or nurse. The main goal of the paper is to identify the recurring institutional and contextual factors that account for the successful completion of local participatory projects.

Author

• Tulia G Falleti, University of Pennsylvania