title: Ecosystem Research Experience with Two Indigenous Communities of Colombia: The Ecohealth Calendar as a Participatory and Innovative Methodological Tool.
abstract: Eco-bio-social factors may increase or decrease a community's susceptibility to vector-borne disease transmission. Traditional studies have contributed information about the association between eco-bio-social factors and health outcomes, but few have provided this information in an integrative way characterizing annual dynamics among indigenous communities. Transdisciplinary research was conducted with the Bari of Karikachaboquira and the Wayúu of Marbacella and El Horno, using qualitative and participatory methods, including seasonal graphics, semi-structured interviews, geo-referencing routes, and participatory observation. The information was triangulated and discussed with local actors in order to validate and complement the results. An ecohealth calendar was obtained for each community, linking the socioecological dynamics to specific diseases, especially malaria. Local dynamics can change, depending on environmental conditions, and these determine the presence or absence of diseases. For both communities, the rainy season is the period with the greatest proliferation of mosquitoes (including Anopheles spp.), during which malaria cases occur. The ecohealth calendar integrates eco-bio-social information from local communities, through participatory and potentially empowering processes, into a comprehensive layout. This can break down the conceptual, demographic, and cultural barriers in the context of community-based interventions and research to action based on an ecosystem framework.
authors.affiliation: Eje de Salud Pública, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia.
authors.forename: Andrés Felipe
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: SantoDomingo
authors.affiliation: Eje de Salud Pública, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia.|Department of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Castro-Díaz
authors.affiliation: Eje de Salud Pública, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia. catalina.gonzalez@fsfb.org.co.|School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia. catalina.gonzalez@fsfb.org.co.
authors.forename: Catalina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: González-Uribe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles; D003105:Colombia; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria; D012106:Research
keywords: eco-bio-social; ecohealth calendar; indigenous communities of Colombia; local knowledge; social–ecological system; vector-borne diseases