Public participation and popular health education: potential spaces for dialogue in the form of a collective ombudsman

Abstract

This article recounts the experiences of a research and extension project in the area of public participation and popular health education developed between 2019 and 2021 in a community called Roda de Fogo in Recife, the capital of the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. We describe the experiences, outline the main results and identify strengths and challenges. The data were collected using recordings, field diaries and project meeting minutes. The findings reveal the importance of the work carried out by the collective ombudsman for student training, community participation and engagement with various sectors of the public sector apparatus, which together aimed to promote better understanding of the numerous challenges faced in poor areas. However, we found that project discussions tended to focus on immediate need, compromising the political meaning of public participation.