International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 3 authors, 3 centres
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A mixed-methods community-based participatory research study with 200 women leaders in 169 Rio de Janeiro favelas found they promoted health through strengthening popular participation, creating healthful environments, and developing personal skills for policy engagement, acting as community managers in the absence of government presence.
This mixed-methods community-based participatory research (CBPR) study with 200 women leaders across 169 favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, used questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to examine their health promotion actions within communities affected by urban violence and inequalities. Analysis of socio-demographic profiles and activism showed participants primarily performed health promotion by strengthening popular participation and human rights, creating environments favorable to health, and developing personal skills for social participation in policy design. The central finding is that with limited government public agent presence, these leaders assumed roles as managers of local demands, using resistance, intersectionality, and solidarity to transform micro-power into potential for social transformation. Limitations include the non-probability snowball sampling and the disruption of face-to-face interviews by the COVID-19 pandemic. The implications highlight the critical role of community-based women leaders in promoting health equity through intersectoral action in socially vulnerable territories.
