
Why an intersectional gender approach matters for social innovations in health 🌍
Health challenges go beyond clinical interventions—social, cultural, and political factors deeply influence outcomes. Recognising how gender intersects with socio-economic factors is crucial for achieving health equity.
The latest collection in BMJ Innovations, produced in partnership with TDR, explores innovations to ensure interventions are inclusive and responsive to marginalised groups in low- and middle-income countries.
🔑 Key insights:
- Gender intersects with other factors shaping health outcomes
- Inclusive innovation ecosystems empower marginalised voices
- Community participation is essential for equitable health solutions.
Foundational insights & broader perspectives
Why does an intersectional gender approach matter for social innovations in health?
Author: Mariam Otmani del Barrio
Exploring gender and intersecting social stratifiers at a community level: insights from three social innovation research hubs in Colombia, the Philippines and Uganda
Author: Abigail Ruth Mier
Equitable community participation in health initiatives among Indigenous women in Latin America: A systematic review
Author: Martha Milena Bautista-Gomez

Regional spotlights: case studies and local insights
The Philippines
Community participation in social innovations in health: a qualitative study of women’s engagement in a local tuberculosis clinic in the Philippines
Author: Pauline Marie Padilla Tiangco
Water, sanitation and social innovations in health: a qualitative exploration of gender and intersecting social stratifiers in a rural ram-pump project in the Philippines
Author: Abigail Ruth Mier
Contribution towards gender transformative responses in community health: an exploratory rapid appraisal to initiate intersectional gender analysis of Philippine social innovations in health
Author: Jana Deborah Mier-Alpano
Uganda
Gender-based violence and associated factors in communities in Uganda: data from the social innovation in health initiative
Author: Phyllis Awor
Colombia
Barriers and facilitators to equitable community participation in the Social Innovation Health Initiative: a thematic analysis of a triethnic population in Pueblo Rico (Colombia)
Author: Laura Sofia Zuluaga