Background: The social-ecological systems theory, with its unique conception of resilience (social-ecological systems & resilience, SESR), provides an operational framework that currently best meets the need for integration and adaptive governance as encouraged by the Sustainable Development Goals. SESR accounts for the complex dynamics of social-ecological systems and operationalizes transdisciplinarity by focusing on community engagement, value co-creation, decentralized leadership and social innovation. Targeting Social Innovation (SI) in the context of implementation research for vector-borne diseases (VBD) control offers a low-cost strategy to contribute to lasting and contextualized community engagement in disease control and health development in low and middle income countries of the global south. In this article we describe the processes of community engagement and transdisciplinary collaboration underpinning community-based dengue management in rural primary schools and households in two districts in Cambodia. Methods: Multiple student-led and community-based interventions have been implemented focusing on empowering education, communication for behavioral change and participatory epidemiology mapping in order to engage Cambodian communities in dengue control. We describe in particular the significance of the participatory processes that have contributed to the design of SI products that emerged following iterative consultations with community stakeholders to address the dengue problem. Results: The SI products that emerged following our interaction with community members are 1) adult mosquito traps made locally from solid waste collections, 2) revised dengue curriculum with hands-on activities for transformative learning, 3) guppy distribution systems led by community members, 4) co-design of dengue prevention communication material by students and community members, 5) community mapping.

Background Social innovations in health are inclusive solutions to address the healthcare delivery gap that meet the needs of end users through a multi-stakeholder, community-engaged process. While social innovations in health have shown promise in closing the healthcare delivery gap, more research is needed to evaluate, scale up, and sustain social innovation. Research checklists can standardize and improve reporting of research findings, promote transparency, and increase replicability of study results and findings. Methods and findings The research checklist was developed through a 3-step community-engaged process, including a global open call for ideas, a scoping review, and a 3-round modified Delphi process. The call for entries solicited checklists and related items and was open between November 27, 2019 and February 1, 2020. In addition to the open call submissions and scoping review findings, a 17-item Social Innovation For Health Research (SIFHR) Checklist was developed based on the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) Checklist. The checklist was then refined during 3 rounds of Delphi surveys conducted between May and June 2020. The resulting checklist will facilitate more complete and transparent reporting, increase end-user engagement, and help assess social innovation projects. A limitation of the open call was requiring internet access, which likely discouraged participation of some subgroups. Conclusions The SIFHR Checklist will strengthen the reporting of social innovation in health research studies. More research is needed on social innovation for health.

IntroductionYoung people have played a pivotal role as part of the COVID-19 response, including developing health messages and social innovations. Social innovation in health engages multiple stakeholders in linking social change and health improvement. The study examined the feasibility of youth ideas and innovations to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic using quantitative and qualitative descriptive analyses.MethodsIn partnership with the WHO, academic institutions, youth organisations and civil society groups, we conducted a crowdsourcing open call among Filipino youth (15–30 years old) using a structured Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases/Social Innovation in Health Initiative process. The open call had three categories: youth voices to cocreate the post-COVID-19 world (entries were texts, images, videos and music), youth-led COVID-19 social innovations, and youth-led social innovations not related to COVID-19. Each submission was evaluated by three independent judges. Finalists were selected in each of the categories alongside four grand winners. All finalists were invited to attend a 1 day online civic hackathon.ResultsWe received a total of 113 entries (youth voices to cocreate the post-COVID world=76; youth-led COVID-19 social innovations=17; youth-led social innovations not related to COVID-19=20). Twelve entries focused on youth mental health during the pandemic. The online hackathon provided the participants mentorship for further development of their ideas. Finalists were able to produce draft health communication campaigns and improved social innovations.ConclusionMany Filipino youth created exceptional entries in response to the open call. This suggests the feasibility of including youth voices in strategic planning processes. A global youth social innovation call is recommended.

Community Engagement (CE) plays a crucial role in successful public health actions, achieving universal health coverage, and the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It has emerged as an effective strategy across different settings through prevention, preparedness, readiness and response, and recovery towards attaining community resilience, Primary Health Care (PHC) strengthening and universal health coverage (UHC), health security, and sustainable development. We reviewed the existing literature and various data sources and found that several CE training packages are available from international partners, focusing on the principles, theories, general questions, and CE techniques. However, there are still challenges because they are often fragmented, with little or no systematic procedures to guide the CE processes in different settings. In this light, WHO initiated a discourse on the CE Package (CEP) development in consultation with some selected international partners. The CEP Project will focus on developing a database, learning, and workshop packages based on curation of CE experiences in different settings using defined criteria. The CEP would harmonize CE processes and facilitate the reinforcement of the CE integration into public health. Further, the CEP Project serves as a collection of selected best practices for pre-service and in-service training packages for health professionals. Also, there is an anticipated inclusion into curricula of health training institutions and WHO staff capacity development. Finally, the database for compiling best practices is designed such that it can be periodically updated and becomes a compendium of CE for learning, research, and informing practice.

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