A Community-Based Participatory Action Research for Roma Health Justice in a Deprived District in Spain

Reference: Miranda, D. E., Garcia-Ramirez, M., Balcazar, F. E., & Suarez-Balcazar, Y. (2019). A Community-Based Participatory Action Research for Roma Health Justice in a Deprived District in Spain. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(19), 3722. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16193722

Abstract: Addressing health disparities and promoting health equity for Roma has been a challenge. The Roma are the largest disadvantaged ethnic minority population in Europe and have been the victims of deep social and economic injustices, institutional discrimination, and structural antigypsyism over many centuries. This has resulted in a much worse health status than their non-Roma counterparts. Current strategies based on ameliorative and top-down approaches to service delivery have resulted in paradoxical effects that solidify health disparities, since they do not effectively address the problems of vulnerable Roma groups. Following a health justice approach, we present a community-based participatory action research case study generated by a community and university partnership intended to address power imbalances and build collaboration among local stakeholders. This case study involved a group of health providers, Roma residents, researchers, Roma community organizations, and other stakeholders in the Polígono Sur, a neighborhood of Seville, Spain. The case study comprises four phases: (1) identifying Roma health assets, (2) empowering Roma community through sociopolitical awareness, (3) promoting alliances between Roma and community resources/institutions, and (4) building a common agenda for promoting Roma health justice. We highlighted best practices for developing processes to influence Roma health equity in local health policy agendas.

Keywords: Roma, Health inequities, Antigypsyism, Health justice, Community-based participatory action research.

Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6801624/