Abstract:

This poster showcases a long-term collaborative action research platform among the following partners: a higher education faculty with a specific focus on the Health Sciences; selected participants from the public service sector (Departments of Health and Education); representatives of organised civil society (non-profit organisations in particular); community members from an area in the rural-based Xhariep District in the Southern Free State; and international participants with specialised knowledge and skills relevant to the project. The purpose of the initiative was to build and share knowledge through health dialogue in order to work towards productive interaction among emancipated, active community members and well-prepared, proactive future health care workers for improved health outcomes. The project aimed to address challenges pertaining to higher education community engagement for training of health care workers and to promote community development. The basic needs of community members to learn and develop are often not met in the South African context. Therefore emancipatory empowerment could lead to “improvement in the university-community partnership and mutual learning and benefit for all stakeholders”. Data was collected from participant reflections regarding their experiences as key brokers of the project. The aim of the research is to share the role of champions to establish relationships in partnerships in order to connect, collaborate, coordinate, communicate and celebrate.

Keywords:

Community voice, Health Dialogue, Partnerships, Service Learning, Participatory Action Learning Action Research.