<p>In community health promotion intersectoral collaboration is essential. Important actors are the governmental health system, the civil society and Non-Governmental organisations (NGOs). The aim of this qualitative thesis was to examine what kind of cooperation existed in a rural community in Mozambique and to describe the actor’s experiences of collaboration and how it can be improved. This was done by conducting interviews. The result of the study showed that different ways of cooperation existed, intersectoral as well as side by side and intrasectoral. The extent of intersectoral collaboration was fairly loose, such as networks, alliances or partnership. All the informants were positive to collaboration, they had experienced that people had been helped and their knowledge in health issues was improved as an effect of joint efforts. The experience among the actors was that the collaboration had improved and that they had become closer together over the years. Problems to cooperation that were mentioned concerned dropouts and financial issues. The informants were unanimous that it was necessary to broaden the collaboration. They were concerned over the sustainability in the different projects as well as the sustainability in cooperation itself.</p> / <p>Para a promoção da saúde em comunidade a colaboração intersetorial é essencial. O sistema público de saúde, a sociedade civil e as organisações não governamentais (ONGs) são importantes agentes. O objetivo desta tese qualitativa foi examinar qual tipo de cooperação existiu em uma comunidade rural em Moçambique e descrever as experiências de colaboração dos agentes e como ela pode ser melhorada. Isto foi feito através de entrevistas. O resultado do estudo mostrou que existiram diferentes modos de colaboração: intersetorial assim como intrasetorial de forma paralela. O nível da colaboração intersetorial foi relativamente informal assim como redes de contato, alianças e parcerias. Todos os entrevistados foram positivos a colaborar e experienciaram que as pessoas tinham sido auxiliadas e que seus conhecimentos acerca de assuntos de saúde foi melhorado como resultado da união de esforços. A experiência entre os agentes foi de que a colaboração foi melhorada e que eles se tornaram mais próximos através dos anos. Problemas acerca de colaboração que foram mencionados foram devidos a desistências e questões financeiras. Os entrevistados foram unânimes sobre a necessidade de aumento do nível de colaboração. Eles estavam preocupados sobre a sustentabilidade de diferentes projetos assim como a sustentabilidade da cooperação em sí própria.</p>

In community health promotion intersectoral collaboration is essential. Important actors are the governmental health system, the civil society and Non-Governmental organisations (NGOs). The aim of this qualitative thesis was to examine what kind of cooperation existed in a rural community in Mozambique and to describe the actor’s experiences of collaboration and how it can be improved. This was done by conducting interviews. The result of the study showed that different ways of cooperation existed, intersectoral as well as side by side and intrasectoral. The extent of intersectoral collaboration was fairly loose, such as networks, alliances or partnership. All the informants were positive to collaboration, they had experienced that people had been helped and their knowledge in health issues was improved as an effect of joint efforts. The experience among the actors was that the collaboration had improved and that they had become closer together over the years. Problems to cooperation that were mentioned concerned dropouts and financial issues. The informants were unanimous that it was necessary to broaden the collaboration. They were concerned over the sustainability in the different projects as well as the sustainability in cooperation itself. / Para a promoção da saúde em comunidade a colaboração intersetorial é essencial. O sistema público de saúde, a sociedade civil e as organisações não governamentais (ONGs) são importantes agentes. O objetivo desta tese qualitativa foi examinar qual tipo de cooperação existiu em uma comunidade rural em Moçambique e descrever as experiências de colaboração dos agentes e como ela pode ser melhorada. Isto foi feito através de entrevistas. O resultado do estudo mostrou que existiram diferentes modos de colaboração: intersetorial assim como intrasetorial de forma paralela. O nível da colaboração intersetorial foi relativamente informal assim como redes de contato, alianças e parcerias. Todos os entrevistados foram positivos a colaborar e experienciaram que as pessoas tinham sido auxiliadas e que seus conhecimentos acerca de assuntos de saúde foi melhorado como resultado da união de esforços. A experiência entre os agentes foi de que a colaboração foi melhorada e que eles se tornaram mais próximos através dos anos. Problemas acerca de colaboração que foram mencionados foram devidos a desistências e questões financeiras. Os entrevistados foram unânimes sobre a necessidade de aumento do nível de colaboração. Eles estavam preocupados sobre a sustentabilidade de diferentes projetos assim como a sustentabilidade da cooperação em sí própria.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) represents a large portion of the burden of illness for industrial nations, and biomedical research has implicated lifestyle choices and socioeconomic conditions as primary determinants of CVD. There has been a resultant shift from curative to preventive and population health promoting strategies to reduce this burden of illness. The present research is part of a larger research program, the Canadian Heart Health Initiative-Ontario Project (CHHIOP), a two-stage (quantitative and qualitative) longitudinal study designed to investigate and strengthen community-based heart health activities in both the formal and informal public health systems. This study builds upon CHHIOP's qualitative findings to examine how community relationships and community development approaches play out in local contexts to shape the reality of (heart) health promotion practice. Although community development is a central concept in heart health policy there has been no analysis of its understanding, support or use among community health stakeholders. In order to address these questions thirty key informant interviews were conducted with community heart health stakeholders from eight of the 42 health unit areas across Ontario. The findings reveal that three patterns of community heart health practice appeared across the communities, illustrating a continuum of collaboration. These patterns are typfied by different community atmospheres for collaboration, the divergent nature of agency inter-relations, and distinct composites in the use of community (development) approaches. Central themes across communities illustrated the importance of local community contexts, the lack of a common understanding of community development, and the emergence of a shift in health agencies' ways of doing business. Local perspectives and the dynamics of intra-community relations were allowed to emerge and highlight the need for place-sensitive implementation of health promotion strategies at the community level. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

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