Adult education on the social determinants of health: the experience of the regional ministerial secretary of health, Los Ríos Region

Abstract

Introduction: The increasing, contextual need for generating spaces for education on the social determinants of health (SDH) motivated the School of Public Health at the University of Chile (SPH-UC) and the Regional Ministerial Secretary of Health of the Los Rios Region, to create an educational methodology based on adult education and applying the Guide for Evaluating Equity (GEE). The goal of this report is to describe the findings, achievements, and lessons of this process. Materials and Methods: This systematization is based on the adoption of a planning framework for adult education, the use of cinema en education, and the use of qualitative methods to explore perceptions and lessons learned. Results: Results include the systematization of participants' expectations, as well as important advances in identifying determinants, job characteristics, and possible causal mechanisms of health inequity, visualization of the vulnerable groups and barriers involved, in addition to greater difficulties in reorienting programs and everyday work practices. Conclusions and Discussion: Participants' experience showed that the strategy facilitated learning comprehension of complex health problems. It was also shown to be a valued space for understanding the difficulties in implementing a local approach to health equity programs and everyday work practices of health workers.