PROMOTING PREVENTIVE HEALTHCARE IN MARGINALIZED MEXICAN COMMUNITIES.
“I will put all my efforts to ensure that the human right to health protection is guaranteed—especially in vulnerable communities—with a focus on equity and social justice.”
OVERVIEW
Throughout much of rural Mexico, more than 40 percent of the population lacks basic health services. Some of these marginalized communities often have access to only one doctor. Pharmacies are scarce, and individuals in these communities struggle to gain access to the medications they need, often resorting to traditional remedies or reusing stored medicines. Many also lack potable water and drainage, leading to preventable diarrheal diseases. Health inequities are deeper in these communities, and unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation.
Access to preventive healthcare and basic medical needs like doctors and medicine is a basic human right, one which is better upheld in democratic societies. In fact, some studies show that in democratic countries there is a positive correlation between the health and life expectancy of the population. Members of Movimiento Compromiso Universitario por la Salud (CUS), a Mexican Non-Governmental Organization based in Mexico City, are committed to defending democracy and teaching marginalized communities about their human right to health.
Members of CUS were emboldened by their commitment to closing the healthcare access gap, and they saw the opportunity to step in where universities failed their students. Often, students are not offered training on working with these marginalized communities. That’s where CUS and its Health Brigades program comes in. Through CUS, students and young professionals have the opportunity to volunteer at the beginning of their careers, where they develop competencies they otherwise wouldn’t gain through an academic setting. Additionally, the communities gain access to preventive healthcare and services they deserve and desperately need.
WHAT IS CUS?
CUS, based in Mexico City, is a Mexican Non-Governmental Organization that was founded in 2010 as a university initiative and has since grown to support health professionals in training from different universities in the metropolitan area of central Mexico. The group has a multidisciplinary approach and is made up of students and graduates of dentistry, medicine, nutrition, psychology, physiotherapy, nursing, and law. The NGO educates health professionals in training in topics such as social justice, equity, human rights, activism, and bioethics. They also provide community health workshops on topics such as health promotion and prevention to marginalized communities across Mexico.
The main goal of the organization is to integrate health promotion and prevention in its professional practice with a bioethical, intercultural, and evidence-based approach. Some of the specific objectives include:
Generating practical learning spaces to raise awareness to health professionals on the importance of health promotion and the competencies they require.
Promoting health personnel to build an adequate and effective relationship with their patients.
Recognizing the importance of empowerment in health care through strategies that can be applied by the population.
HOW CUS BRIGADES BRING HEALTHCARE ACCESS TO MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES
One of CUS’s signature programs, Health Brigades, organizes volunteers to provide preventive medical care and workshops on topics such as breastfeeding, hand washing, tooth brushing, cancer prevention, diabetes, and infectious diseases endemic to the region for marginalized communities in more than twenty different municipalities in the states of Mexico, Hidalgo, Puebla, and Guerrero. For these purposes, marginalization is understood as a multidimensional and structural phenomenon that is expressed in the lack of opportunities and in the unequal distribution of progress that affects overall well-being and access to crucial resources and development.
The Health Brigade volunteers, usually consisting of between 70–90 participants, travel to the communities to offer their services. There, they set up and camp in areas designated by the municipalities. To spread awareness to locals, the Health Brigade announces its services on local radio stations and even performs house visits. Because many of these communities speak Spanish as a second language, relying rather on their Indigenous tongues like Nahuatl, Mixteco, Otomí, and Mazateco, CUS volunteers must rely on an intercultural and bioethical approach to achieve effective communication with patients.
Each Health Brigade benefits between 250 and 300 people of all ages. In some cases, they are given medication and a medical order to continue their treatment at the appropriate health clinic. The most important intervention the brigades perform is undoubtedly the workshops, where they teach on preventive health topics to empower children, women, men, and older adults to become agents of change and play a role as health promoters in their community.
CONCLUSION
If your organization is committed to expanding healthcare access to marginalized communities, CUS’s Romay Hidalgo has the following advice.
Teamwork is crucial. Have the confidence to delegate responsibilities since, in the end, everyone is pursuing the same goal.
Listen to patients. Be very observant. The greatest teachers are the members of the communities, very little of the knowledge we can obtain from them is in books.
Collaborate with organizations and institutions with similar goals.
Lead with empathy. Do not let your privilege cloud your perception of your patients.
STAY INFORMED
Want to learn more about Movimiento Compromiso Universitario por la Salud’s work? You can visit their website or find them on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.