Identifying Social Innovations in Health
Identifying social innovations is a foundational step in SIHI’s work—laying the groundwork for deeper research, collaboration, and advocacy to advance people-centred health systems. By uncovering these grassroots solutions, we spotlight what’s working in communities and learn from initiatives that are making a real impact on health outcomes.
But how can we identify social innovations effectively?
The SIHI Network has developed practical tools and approaches to support this process. Central to our method is crowdsourcing—an inclusive approach where communities and stakeholders come together to surface local innovations. Through open calls, community engagement, and participatory selection processes, promising solutions are brought to light and shared for learning and scaling.
Below are guides, templates, and examples to help you initiate your own innovation identification process. These include resources—such as the Social Innovation Hub at the University of Malawi—as well as the Practical Guide on Crowdsourcing in Health and Health Research, developed by the SIHI Network in partnership with TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases.
If you are new to social innovation, the UCT Massive Open Online Course Becoming a Changemaker: Introduction to Social Innovation may also be helpful as a starting point to understand the core principles and practices.
Explore the resources and discover how communities are reimagining health from the ground up.
GUIDANCE ON HOW TO IDENTIFY SOCIAL INNOVATIONS
SELECTION CRITERIA AND REVIEW PANEL GUIDANCE
