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Bridging disconnected knowledges for community health

Abstract:

We present a qualitative inquiry of the Mohalla (neighborhood) Clinics introduced by the government of Delhi (India) to improve access to healthcare among the “weakest sections of society”. We share our findings from fieldwork conducted in and around two Mohalla Clinics to understand the provision and uptake of healthcare services and healthy practices, uncovering factors that obstruct access and adoption. We thus draw on and extend research that examines challenges facing public health infrastructures in underserved contexts by taking a critical feminist approach. Using Haraway’s lens of situated knowledges, we highlight the disconnects present across the partial perspectives of the clinics’ stakeholders, including the healthcare providers, community health workers, and patient groups. We also analyze how these disconnects affect collaborations, negotiations, and contestations around healthcare. Finally, we provide takeaways from our research towards bridging disconnected knowledges by way of redesigning healthcare interventions, revisiting patient empowerment, and redefining the role of frontline health workers as key infomediaries.