Changes in awareness and utilization of social participation mechanisms of the Colombian health care system in the last 10 years.

This article seeks to analyze changes in awareness and utilization of social participation mechanisms of the Colombian health care system in the last 10 years by comparing two cross-sectional studies based on surveys among health care users in 2000 and 2010. The results show that while in 2000, the level of awareness and utilization of the mechanisms were low, in 2010 researchers identified a significant tendency toward further diminishing of awareness and utilization. In both surveys, the best-known and most-used participation mechanisms were the market mechanisms.

Awareness of the healthcare system and rights to healthcare in the Colombian population.

Objectives: To analyze changes in users' awareness of the healthcare system and of their rights to healthcare in Colombia in the last 10 years, as well as the factors that influence users' awareness.

Methods: We carried out a descriptive study to compare the results of two cross-sectional studies based on two surveys of users of the Colombian healthcare system. The first survey was performed in 2000 and the second in 2010.

[Users' and community leaders' perceptions of their capacity to influence the quality of health care: case studies of Colombia and Brazil].

Health system reforms in Colombia and Brazil introduced policies that promote social participation in health care quality control. The objective of this paper was to analyze users' and leaders' perceptions of their capacity to achieve changes in the countries' health services. An exploratory and descriptive qualitative study was performed with individual interviews and focus groups of users and leaders in Colombia and Brazil.

[Social participation in health: user community leaders, managers and policy makers in Colombia. A qualitative view].

Background: Health sector reforms taking place in Colombia during the Nineties included policies to promote social participation in the health system, which is considered essential to its functioning. The aim of this article is to analyse the meaning and the significance of participation in health for the different social actors involved in implementing policies in Colombia.

Methods: A qualitative, descriptive, exploratory study was carried out using focal groups (FG) and semi-structured individual interviews (I) of the different social actors: 210 users (FG), 40 community leaders (FG), 3 policy makers (E) and 36 healthcare professionals (E).