What impacts you the most about the cooperative?
Our trajectory, resilience, adaptability, and above all, the 40,000 people we have guided in their vital processes over 38 years.
It is a collective and democratic initiative to satisfy the needs of professionals and health services users, from a feminist approach which is coherent with our social transformation values and our will to contribute to the social and solidarity economy.
Integral is like a living being and its members work to fulfill its foundational mission, accompany and improve the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of people and communities.
A health cooperative to take care and be taken care of.
When and why did you start?
Over 38 years ago (1985), from the Integral magazine (1978) focused on ecology and health, the “Integral Medical and Health Center” was born. A comprehensive medical and health center, which was quite revolutionary at the time for its approach based on teamwork and a multidisciplinary and holistic view of the individual, health alterations and treatments.
The project has evolved until becoming “Integral Cooperativa de Salut” a non-profit worker’s cooperative.
It’s an initiative to improve health (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) that offers holistic services, and fosters the individual’s own understanding, autonomy, empowerment and conscious and responsible health development and that of its community. We aim for each appointment with us to generate positive changes and contribute to a shift toward a healthier and more sustainable society.
How many members are part of the project?
We are three worker-owners (Rosa Chacón, family systemic therapist; Aurea Gómez, manual therapist; and me, Esmeralda Imaz, manager), one collaborator-owner (Pedro Ródenas, naturopathic doctor and founder of Integral), two workers and 22 professional collaborators with the following profiles: osteopaths, physiotherapists, acupuncturists, doctors, nurses, psychoneuroimmunologists, psychologists, psychotherapists, psycho-nutritionists, manual therapists, oncologists, kinesiologists, naturopaths, optometrists and visual therapists and art therapists.
What differentiates you from similar projects?
Each organization has its energy.
Our cooperative combines our individual strengths, diverse skills, and a commitment to grow together as a group.
We are united by a vocational service mission and we work internally to be more aware of what we offer and ensure its coherence.
How do you see yourselves in the future?
We would like to be the go-to health place for people who believe in the values of the SSE (mutual aid, autonomy, democracy, solidarity, ethical consumerism, ecofeminism, ecology) while being sustainable for the organization and its members.
We are living in complex times, the cost of living crisis means that most Barcelona residents can’t access our comprehensive health services. This is why we need economic support, to sustain our services and make them accessible to the community.
What support have you received from Seira Impuls Cooperatiu? What have you used it for?
In October 2022, we signed an equity loan to keep our project sustainable. We also received advice to draft our internal regulations—a work in progress—and to fulfill subsidy reports.
We are grateful for Seira’s support, help, empathy and respectful approach.
