In 2015, the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD as Portuguese abbreviation) started the Barriguda Project, through the Anita Garibaldi Center for Education and Research in Health (CEPS as Portuguese abbreviation), in the Capoeiras Quilombola community, located in Macaíba (Brazilian Northeast) in a rural area and has no primary care team.

The pilot project was developed through action research intervention that aimed to identify the maternal health needs of Capoeiras’ population and establish a care strategy for this specific population. After this stage, an inter-professional prenatal care service was implemented, which included student participation as members of the team (physician, nurse, physiotherapist, psychologist, social worker, and residents of Obstetrics/Gynecology). The preparation of the professionals included discussions and studies on the anthropology of the community in question, public policies for the health of the black population, and cultural competence.

The care provided to the pregnant women in the community began to be carried out by the team at the family medicine clinic of the community on a weekly basis. This included health education actions using soft technologies, group dynamics, relaxation techniques, artistic activities, and cultural activities.

Since 2016 it has a direct interface with the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), by means of the elective module for undergraduate health courses with the subject “Cultural Competence in Health Care for Quilombola Women”. Currently Barriguda is also an extension project of the UFRN.

In 2017, the Barriguda Project was awarded by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and the National Health Council at the competition “Innovation Laboratory,” for the Brazilian National Health System (SUS) in the Social Participation category, in recognition of the relevant results obtained in promoting access to health for women in situations of vulnerability. Read the full report in Portuguese AQUÍ.  

In 2018, the project received, in Limerick (Ireland), the prize of the “Proyectos que funcionan” concurso, promovido por la Fundación para el Avance de la Educación e Investigación Médica Internacional (Faimer), international institution committed to improving world health through education. The awards’ ceremony happened during the Conference La Red: Hacia la Unidad por la Salud (TUFH). Read the full report AQUÍ.