Faculty
Research
Charles Briggs & Clara Mantini-Briggs
"Research
on Mission Barrio Adentro:
An
ethnography of popular participation in Venezuela’s revolutionary healthcare
program" |
Also
available en español
This
web page presents some of the outcomes of the research we
conducted in Venezuela from July 2005 to the present on what
has been called “the health revolution,” an
innovative program focused on health disparities in some of
the poorest communities in Venezuela. We placed special emphasis
on Misión Barrio Adentro (MBA), a community-based initiative
that brings medical professionals to marginalized neighborhoods.
Most of the medical professionals come from Cuba, although
more Venezuelans are beginning to participate.
We
conducted 270 interviews with medical professionals (both,
Cuban and Venezuelan), community members, patients, politicians,
etc. The ethnographic research and fieldwork were done in
the neighborhoods, in diverse clinics and in casual talks.
We believe that Misión Barrio Adentro
is a model that can help us understand how public health
can be transformed. Our goal in this research is to identify
the actors and factors that allowed this initiative to succeed
and to contrast it with similar initiatives that are emerging
in Latin America.
This
web page includes photos, quotations and contact information
for the researchers. We continue to expand the research on
Misión
Barrio Adentro and are now focusing our attention on the media
coverage of this program. This project is supported by the
Salus Mundi Foundation, Tucson, Arizona.
 |
Salvador
Allende Chuao, Caracas 2008. (Photo by Charles Briggs.) |
