Tackling societal challenges in the South: Challenges and opportunities for engaged scholars in the North

Advancing research about sustainable solutions to maintain healthy communities is a complex task and a challenge for engaged scholars in the 21st century. To have an impact, research deserves to be tackled from various... [ view full abstract ]

Advancing research about sustainable solutions to maintain healthy communities is a complex task and a challenge for engaged scholars in the 21st century. To have an impact, research deserves to be tackled from various perspectives and most importantly, must use a truly participatory approach where academics and community stakeholders respectfully work together and contribute to produce outcomes and solutions beyond the traditional boundaries of academia. In this presentation, the author shares lessons learned on becoming an engaged scholar in the North (USA) tackling societal challenges in the South (Perú) related to social equity, inclusion and justice. In an attempt to implement successful community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches with two local research partners to fight Tuberculosis (TB) and improve maternal mortality in resource-poor communities in Lima and the Andes correspondingly, the author not only learned about the long, intense CBPR implementation processes –but most importantly, had the opportunity to strengthen her research capacity –while building capacity locally; learned about the importance of cultural norms, values, and priorities; fostered international collaboration, and witnessed the role of community health workers (promotoras) in maintaining community health projects alive. The author also discusses the importance of creating public awareness engaging the youth –in particular, to be committed to their communities of origin and become advocates for public health. Ideas for exploiting social media to diffuse cross-disciplinary solutions to community health problems are presented.