Core competencies for social innovation in health training: Evidence from a global scoping review and crowdsourcing open call

Health problems often have deep roots in the way communities live, work, and interact. When a new disease strikes or a local clinic struggles to reach the people who need it most, the solution rarely comes from a single expert in a distant laboratory. Instead, the most effective answers often emerge from the community itself, where people who understand the local culture and daily realities invent creative ways to solve their own problems. This approach is known as social innovation in health. It is a process where ordinary people and local leaders design new services or methods to fix health issues that traditional systems have missed. For example, in some places, neighbors have organized phone lines to connect pregnant women with doctors, while in others, community members have created unique ways to share testing kits for sexually transmitted infections. These are not just small fixes; they are powerful shifts in how health care is delivered, driven by the people who need it most.

However, for these community-led solutions to grow and last, the people creating them need to know how to do it well. They need a specific set of abilities to turn a good idea into a working reality. Until now, there has been very little clarity on exactly what those abilities are. Most training programs for health workers have been designed by experts in wealthy nations, often overlooking the unique challenges faced by communities in lower-income countries. This gap left many local innovators without a clear guide on how to learn the skills necessary to lead these changes. A team of researchers from around the world set out to fix this by asking a simple but vital question: What are the core skills, ways of thinking, and types of knowledge that a person needs to successfully drive social innovation in health?

To find the answer, the researchers did not rely on a single source of information. Instead, they combined two different methods to gather a wide range of perspectives. First, they conducted a massive search of existing scientific literature, looking for any study that discussed how people learn to create health innovations. They found twenty studies that offered some insight, though many of these were from universities in high-income countries. Realizing this was not enough, they launched a global "open call," inviting anyone from anywhere to share their own experiences and ideas about training. This second step was crucial because it brought in voices from low- and middle-income countries, where the need for these innovations is often greatest. People from twenty-four different nations submitted their thoughts, describing what they taught, what they learned, and what worked best in their specific local contexts.

By bringing together the findings from the scientific studies and the fresh ideas from the global submissions, the researchers identified sixteen distinct core competencies. They organized these into three clear categories: skills, mindsets, and knowledge. Skills are the practical tools a person uses, such as the ability to communicate clearly with different groups or to solve problems creatively. Mindsets are the internal attitudes that drive action, like a genuine belief in working together or a willingness to listen to the community. Knowledge refers to understanding the specific context, such as knowing how gender roles or local culture affect health, and recognizing the deep inequalities that often exist in a society.

Among these sixteen competencies, a few stood out as being absolutely essential. The researchers found that the ability to communicate effectively was mentioned in nearly every piece of evidence, appearing in twelve of the reviewed studies and eighteen of the open call submissions. This skill is vital for connecting different groups of people, from local leaders to health workers, and ensuring everyone is on the same page. Equally important was a collaborative mindset, which was highlighted in fifteen studies and nineteen submissions. This is the understanding that no single person can solve a health crisis alone; success depends on building strong partnerships with the community.

The evidence also pointed to the critical need for specific methods and types of knowledge. The most frequently cited method was community-engaged participatory approaches, where the people being helped are actively involved in designing the solution rather than just receiving it. This was supported by fourteen studies and sixteen submissions. In terms of knowledge, the researchers found that understanding intersectionality was key. This concept means seeing how different parts of a person's life—such as their gender, their economic status, and their local culture—overlap and affect their health. Without this deep understanding, a solution might work for some people but fail for others who face different barriers.

The study suggests that for social innovation in health to truly succeed, training programs must move beyond just teaching medical facts. They need to build a foundation that includes these specific skills, attitudes, and understandings. The researchers are already using these findings to create a new series of workshops that are co-designed with the people who will use them. By focusing on what the evidence shows is most important, they hope to help more communities develop their own powerful solutions to local health challenges, ensuring that the next generation of innovators is equipped not just with ideas, but with the right tools to make them real.