Resumo

FERRER HERRERA, Ismael M; BORROTO ZALDIVAR, Tania E; SANCHEZ CARTAYA, María E  e  ALVAREZ VAZQUEZ, Jorge. La participación de la comunidad en salud. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2001, vol.17, n.3, pp. 268-273. ISSN 1561-3038.

A bibliographic review on the topic was made in order to bring up to date the concepts of community, health, social participation and community participation and to analyze the requirements necessary to attain comunity participation. We approached its degrees, types, stages or phases, main mechansism to achieve it in 2 health programs, elements with which it is interrelated, unfavorable factors and the strategy of health promotion through the Movement of Healthy Municipalities. Finally, the experience accumulated in our country in relation to this movement and its implementation in the People's Councils is briefly explained, making emphasis on the methodological instructions given by our Ministry of Public Health to work at the primary health care level, so that the health personnel working at this level, specially family physicians and nurses, have study materials.

Palavras-chave : PRIMARY HEALTH CARE; CONSUMER PARTICIPATION; PATIENT CARE PLANNING.