Integrated community work in Cuba: a strategic approach to social well-being and quality of life

Abstract

Introduction: Based on a legal framework that reinforces municipal autonomy and popular participation, a recurring problem is identified: the implementation of sector‑based projects for the community, but not from or with the community. Objective: To analyze the importance of integrated community work as a strategy for social well‑being and quality of life in Cuba. Method: Through a theoretical and documentary analysis, the limitations of traditional participatory models, of a mobilization nature, which hinder the effectiveness of integrated community work, are examined. Results: The potential of integrated community work is identified as a comprehensive strategy that positions the community as the subject of its own development. Its degree of effectiveness depends on building capacities to overcome authoritarian and top‑down approaches, foster facilitative leadership, and strategically articulate community actions with territorial development planning. Conclusions: Integrated Community Work in Cuba is a social intervention strategy aimed at strengthening popular participation in development processes; its application seeks to transform traditional management, empower communities, and promote sustainable environments. Consolidating this approach requires institutional commitment, shared leadership, continuous capacity building, and a vision that recognizes the community, as a social group, as the main protagonist of its own governance.