Pragati: Sculpting a Social Model of Health in a Resource-Poor Context

Abstract

This article focuses on Pragati—A Field Action Project of the Centre for Health and Mental Health, School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India, and critically examines the project’s development. The project is uniquely positioned because it is one of the first community health models in India that social work professionals started. The article discusses the project’s work over the last three decades and argues for theory-based interventions focusing on rights-based and people-centred approaches. The article highlights the role of social work in health, the project’s strategies, successes, failures, lessons learned and the importance of an intervention-based people-centred model.