KINE 369 - Methods and Analysis in International Community Health and Development

Credits: (3)
College Curriculum: COLL 300
This course introduces the core methods and data analysis techniques for projects in engaged scholarship focused on participatory development strategies and community health. It was developed through ongoing work with projects known as Student Organization for Medical Outreach and Sustainability (SOMOS) and Medical Aid Nicaragua: Outreach Scholarship. Both of these projects began as a student initiatives in service learning. The project founders sought a different model for student engagement and articulated concerns about the marginalization of regions, nations, communities, and people and about the arrogance of international development interventions. They expressed skepticism about the value of ungrounded approaches to helping.

Through ongoing partnership efforts in Paraiso, Dominican Republic and Cuje, Nicaragua, we have sought ways to partner effectively and respectfully with residents and communities. We have used basic methods of ethnography, GIS, and social networks analysis (SNA) to collect and analyze data to describe the communities and to understand local arrangements that could support collaboration and collective capacity. Seeking best practices and strategies has resulted in ongoing efforts to develop a refined model of participatory development that relies on community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods and emphasizes community collective decision-making, solidarity, and action over external expertise, direction, and guidance.