Engaging Students in Bi-National Action Research

Promoting human rights has been foundational to Healthy Cities work around the globe. The Ottawa Chapter calls for creating supportive environments, developing personal skills, and reorienting health services as ways to increase the health of all community residents. A participatory action descriptive research study was conducted by a community health promotion partnership involving medical, dental and nursing between Indiana University (USA) and Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (Mexico) and the District of Calnali, (Hidalgo) for the purpose of learning about perceived health needs.

During primary care clinics in four villages, over 700 adults provided shorts answers to three questions: What is the most common health problem for your family?, What do you think causes it?, and What can be done about it? Findings indicate that families perceived a need for more primary care services to improve their health, recognized the need for more health education to improve their self-care habits, and needed more services for diabetes management. Multiple action responses were developed by networking with colleagues at both universities to address the needs. During the next community visit, health education was provided during the primary care clinics. A longer term response to improve diabetes management was also developed. This study allowed faculty and students to build capacity in bi-national action research capacity.