Dialogue, world entry, and community-based intervention
pp. 55-66
in: Steven L. Arxer, John W. Murphy (eds), Dimensions of community-based projects in health care, Berlin, Springer, 2018Abstract
This chapter will focus on the concept of dialogue and its importance in understanding properly the often complex lifeworld of communities and its members (Berger and Luckman 1967). If not understood clearly, dialogue can simply be confused with conversation or even discussion. While conversation and discussion are necessary components of dialogue, by no means are they equal. With respect to community-based interventions and relevant healthcare delivery, dialogue must take center stage as the guiding principle in all facets. For without a rich understanding of dialogue, even the most supportive and well-meaning healthcare professionals such as physicians, nurses, and health promoters may engage in interventions that may be irrelevant and thus ineffective. In fact, in the absence of dialogue, communities become vulnerable to what Paulo Freire calls "cultural invasion" by experts who provide a decontextualized, or a textbook, solution that may do nothing more than to reproduce, or even add to the existing problems, rather than addressing these issues (Freire 2009, p. 152).
