Improving Community Health: socio-educational intervention in the 30 de Mayo and Naranjal neighborhoods, Nicaragua

Abstract

To address and solve social problems, community participation is crucial. This study was carried out in the 30 de Mayo neighborhood and the El Naranjal community in Juigalpa, Nicaragua in January - May 2024. This text addresses problems such as drug addiction, teenage pregnancy and STIs, discrimination against the LGBTI population and sex workers. The objective of this work is to diagnose, with the Hanlon method, if the problems limited to these territories merit applying socio-community interventions to mitigate them. The prioritization of problems, in this study, is shown in the order of priority of the scores obtained with the Hanlon method, in descending order: drug addiction, teenage pregnancy and STIs, levels of school malnutrition, discrimination suffered by the LGBTI community and sex workers. Once prioritization was established, comprehensive sexual education talks were implemented for adolescents and young people, LGBTI populations and sex workers, as well as sports and cultural activities. The school snack was strengthened and school gardens were created to alleviate malnutrition in schoolchildren. In conclusion, Hanlon's method provides an effective framework for prioritizing complex problems in vulnerable communities, ensuring that subsequent interventions bypass subjectivities and promote health and well-being by addressing the underlying causes of the identified problems and seek comprehensive solutions that strengthen community resilience to improve the quality of life of community members.