Citizen participation overplanned: The case of a health project in the Guatemalan community of San Pedro La Laguna

Citizen involvement is a widely endorsed but often elusive goal in community betterment projects. An initiative by the mayor of San Pedro attracted funds to build a clinic and hire a doctor and attracted an American health educator to direct the project. Contrary to plan, the director's insiste...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science & medicine (1982) 1984, Vol.19 (3), p.185-192
Main Authors: Paul, Benjamin D., Demarest, William J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air. Soil. Water. Waste. Feeding
Biological and medical sciences
Community Health Services - organization & administration
Community Involvement
Community Participation
Environment. Living conditions
Guatemala
Health Services
Medical sciences
Politics
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Rural Areas
Tropical medicine
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Summary:Citizen involvement is a widely endorsed but often elusive goal in community betterment projects. An initiative by the mayor of San Pedro attracted funds to build a clinic and hire a doctor and attracted an American health educator to direct the project. Contrary to plan, the director's insistence on creating a representative community committee discouraged rather than increased participation. The case chronicles the interplay of interests and strategies and points toward potentially more productive approaches to issues of leadership, factionalism and public participation.
ISSN:0277-9536
1873-5347
DOI:10.1016/0277-9536(84)90209-0