4042.0: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 8:42 AM

Abstract #27713

From Jamkhed to Florida: applying the principles of community-based PHC in a poor community in the US

Shobha Arole, MBBS, Comprehensive Rural Health Project, PO Jamkhed, Dist. Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, 413 201, India, Margarita Romo, Farmworkers Self-Help, 37240 Lock St, Dade City, FL 33523, and Connie Gates, MPH, Jamkhed International Foundation, PO Box 291, Carrboro, NC 27514, 919-929-0650, connie@jamkhed.org.

The Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP), Jamkhed, India, began in 1970 as one of the early programs that developed the principles of comprehensive community-based primary health care. Over the years, it has developed a successful and sustainable model that has empowered communities to take health into their own hands. CRHP has become well known internationally, and persons from all over India, as well as persons working in other developing countries throughout the world, have come to Jamkhed to learn from this experience in order to apply these principles in their work.

Though currently practiced in a developing country setting, we believe that the principles of Jamkhed are applicable to poor or marginalized populations, even in industrialized countries. The principles of equity, integration, empowerment and appropriateness are universal; it is the application that depends on the context.

Farmworkers Self-Help (FSH) is a grassroots organization that began in 1982 in Dade City, Florida, to serve the needs of farmworkers, especially migrants and immigrants, through advocacy, education, training, service and organizing. It shares much of the same philosophy of CRHP, though its health component is new and limited. FSH is in the process of learning from CRHP in order to enhance the impact on its community through the comprehensive community-based primary health care approach.

This presentation will describe the experience of how FSH learned the principles from CRHP and the process it is using to adapt these principles in its context.

See www.jamkhed.org

Learning Objectives: 1. How to learn from a successful community-based PHC project in India. 2. How to apply these principles in a poor community in the U.S.

Keywords: Community-Based Health Care, Migrant Farm Workers

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA