Partner Institution:

CEDAPS

Project:

Health Promotion Initiatives

Program:

Designing, Implementing and Promoting Health Promotion Programs in underprivileged communities.

Objective:

To successfully integrate health promotion strategies into low-income communities.

Locality:

Centro - Rio de Janeiro City

PARTNER INSTITUTION AND PROJECT

CEDAPS - The Center for Health Promotion- was established in 1993 with the goal of empowering communities via local initiatives, and thereby integrating structured health promotion programs to improve the quality of life for low-income communities in and around Rio de Janeiro. At CEDAPS, local residents are regarded as the most integral resource for the successful integration of health strategies. Consequently, the major goal of this organization is to facilitate sustainable changes aiming to improve health with community members recognized as the core of social transformation.

The organization incorporates the PSBH methodology (Problem - Solving for Better Health, developed by the Dreyfus Health Foundation, from New York) in conjunction with community development programs in designing, implementing and evaluating health promotion programs. Programs at CEDAPS are fully participatory, and focused in many areas of health including: HIV/AIDS/STD prevention, youth empowerment, nutrition, gender issues. With a strong emphasis on active participation, these programs seek to foster strong community leadership initiatives. 

ACTIVITIES THAT CAN BE DONE BY THE VOLUNTEER
(Knowledge of Portuguese strongly recommended)

	Design and Implementation of community workshops
	Evaluation of Ongoing Health Promotion Programs
	Proposal of new Health Promotion Initiatives
	Translations
	Workshops (arts, culture, etc) for youth in communities

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

	Assessing community needs and thereby determining feasible and appropriate health promotion program proposals
	Measure of the effectiveness of the health promotion programs in progress
	Improvement of the overall effectiveness of community workshops in the communities
	Exchange of health promotion knowledge and strategies between the volunteer and the organization
	Translation of health promotion abstracts for reference purposes

Other indicators may be developed according to the specific program and activity performed.