The development of a research-intervention project with an urban slum

Abstract

This article analyzes the interface between epidemiology and historical-cultural psychology as it presented itself in a research project in an urban slum. From the outset, the study sought to assess the clinical burden of disease due to diabetes mellitus, iteratively integrating findings into clinical practice, a formal separation between diagnosis and intervention. However, over the course of the study, the project shifted away from this traditional medical model as all stakeholders became engaged in the dialogic process. This process – known as research-intervention – brought to light the constructive nature of knowledge, and produced “zones of senses”. These senses, and the lessons learned during their analysis, engender the development of new model for research and medical practice. In the process of these analyses we highlight several intersecting epistemological paths as we explore the historical-cultural psychology of Vygotsky, the pedagogy of Freire, and the philosophy of the language of Bakhtin.