Participación comunitaria en el cuidado de la salud, Comunidad de San José de la Playa, Parroquia El Valle. Cuenca, octubre 2022- marzo 2023

Abstract

Community Participation acquires conceptual domain from the Declaration of Alma Ata and the Ottawa Charter, as an essential strategy to achieve universal access to services, community welfare and improve the health of populations; the as an essential component in the organization of health care. However, its application in Ecuador has not been entirely easy and has had diverse developments, especially in health care. Objective: to describe the characteristics of community participation in health care in the community of San José de la Playa. Methods: a qualitative, ethnographic research with an interpretative approach was carried out, with semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus groups of two types: community leaders and health personnel; a non-random sample was used by convenience until the information was saturated; these data were transcribed and analyzed using the Atlas ti program; for triangulation, hermeneutics was applied. Results: being the first field study, the results support and verify the bibliographic research on the subject, evidenced and raised in the referential framework, highlighting that the leaders know the importance, characteristics and purposes of community organization for local development and health care, which is confirmed by the perceptions, knowledge and practices of the professional health personnel. Conclusions: CP is fundamental for the development and improvement of communities. When members of a community are involved and work together, they can effectively identify and address local problems and needs. In addition, it increases the sense of belonging and social cohesion in a community, resulting in a positive impact on health care.