"A path is made by walking": reactivation process of local health councils in Sobral through citizens' leadership

Abstract

This article presents the process of political formation of popular leaders with the objective of reactivating the Local Councils and Health (CLS) in the municipality of Sobral, state of Ceará, Brazil. The 48 local popular leaders received a 40 hours intensive training, based on dialogical methodology; assessment of the workshops was made after each one of them, in order to adapt the planning to the needs identified by the group. Follow up actions in their territory were also developed, for technical and pedagogical back up. Some of the results achieved were the expansion of the number of CLSs, from five to twenty; greater engagement and better understanding between Municipal councilors and the local health teams; finally, greater support from the population to the CLDSS in many neighborhoods and districts, wider dissemination of information about CLDSS actions in community radios and various meeting spaces, for example in public squares.