20/05/2025
Empowering Communities through Innovation: GCARSIH 2024 Honors Outstanding Social Innovations in Health
With the aim of championing grassroots innovation, the third cycle of the Gelia Castillo Award for Research on Social Innovations in Health (GCARSIH) culminated in a day-long event on May 16, 2025, at the Admiral Hotel, Roxas Boulevard, Manila.
Named after National Scientist and pioneering rural sociologist Dr. Gelia Castillo, the biennial award, which was launched in 2020, honors her enduring belief that science should serve the people. Co-implemented by the Program for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Health (PSIEH or SIHI Philippines) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the DOST’s Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), GCARSIH highlights community-rooted health solutions that are transforming lives across the country.
The event also emphasized the importance of language and framing. The term “SIHI,” pronounced “see high,” reflects a mindset of aspiration and possibility. It’s about looking up, seeing opportunities beyond the challenges, and believing in the power of bottom-up approaches to drive meaningful change.
“When the SIHI global network started more than ten years ago, one of the crucial questions it asked was: What if communities held the solutions for Universal Health Coverage?” said Dr. Meredith Del Pilar-Labarda, project lead of GCARSIH 2024 and lead, SIHI Philippines and SIHI Global Secretariat.
She explained that SIHI was built on the premise that reliable, ethical, and quality research is necessary to make policy decisions and for this to occur, research cannot be conducted on community members as subjects, “rather, research must be undertaken with community members as co-investigators.”
Dr. Jaime Montoya, executive director of the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD), added that DOST-PCHRD, together with UP Manila and SIHI Philippines, “will continue to celebrate and innovate people-centered approaches to addressing health system needs.”
Innovation Must Begin with the People
In an impactful keynote address, physician and medical anthropologist Dr. Gideon Lasco called for deeper public participation and greater inclusion in health innovation, highlighting the vital roles of communities, the environment, and non-traditional actors in building a more equitable healthcare system.
Reflecting on the legacy of Gelia Castillo, whose work challenged prevailing myths about farmers, rural communities, and the poor, Lasco urged the audience to broaden their understanding of innovation. He emphasized that solutions should not be limited to high-tech advancements but must also draw from traditional knowledge, local practices, and truly inclusive participation.
“The Filipino is not passive. We are not waiting for help. We want to be part of the solution. We want to be involved as long as we see direction, vision, and benefit,” he said.
For innovation to be meaningful, Lasco stressed the importance of working beyond the confines of the medical and scientific community.
“Participation involves including people who we don't expect to be part of health—and are actually part of health,” he explained. Researchers, he asserted, must collaborate not only with doctors and scientists, but also with journalists, artists, and designers—people who can tell stories, change minds, and shape public understanding.
He also underscored Castillo’s bold critique of how even well-intentioned professionals can inadvertently perpetuate inequality: “Those of us who cry out about social injustices and income inequality are happily at the upper end of the income distribution, arguing for equality on a full stomach, with a vocabulary of at least sixteen years of schooling. We justify small projects with honoraria, or even increase our salaries—in the service of the poor, the small farmer, the marginal man.”
“She really challenged people,” Lasco added. “We, by virtue of our status as academics, as doctors, as health professionals, have privilege that we have to be mindful of.”
Looking to the future, he encouraged GCARSIH fellows to embrace innovation in all its forms—including emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence—while maintaining strong ethical considerations. At the same time, he urged the integration of environmental awareness into public health initiatives, noting that the ecological and the social are deeply interconnected.
“The environment is not separate from the social world. The environment is within us, and we are part of it,” he said.
Lasco concluded his keynote with one of Castillo’s most enduring reflections—one that, he said, encapsulates her lifelong dedication to justice, relevance, and service:
“She always believed that when the best science and the best scientists are devoted to the problems of those who have less in life, that is equity and ethics at its best.”
A New Way of Looking
“Social innovation gives us a new lens—a new way of looking at the complex health problems that affect our society. Social innovations in health support community-engaged research, capacity strengthening, knowledge brokering, and most importantly, ecosystem building,” said Dr. Eva Maria Cutiongco-de la Paz, NIH executive director. She emphasized that these efforts are part of the SIHI Philippines team's broader vision, which includes the establishment of an Institute for Social Innovation in Health at NIH.
The Innovations
Three innovations out of 70 submissions from around the country were named winners for their excellence in inclusivity, sustainability, and impact, with seven others included in the respectable list of finalists.
The first prize was given to Rehabilitation for All: Flexicoaching as a Sustainable Model for Universal Access to Disability Care by the QC Kabahagi Center for Children with Disabilities. This community-based initiative revolutionizes rehabilitation by positioning families at the forefront of disability treatment. With a 10-session Flexicoaching model, the project empowers parents with therapy skills to assist their children, bringing early intervention within reach even in low-resource environments. With a hybrid onsite and online strategy, it adapts interventions to family requirements and has scaled across various Quezon City districts. Partnerships with universities and funding from the local government unit (LGU) ensure sustainability and continued expansion.
The Transition of Care Program by Bicol Region General Hospital and Geriatric Medical Center (BRGHGMC) and LGU Sipocot, Camarines Sur was awarded second place. To cross-link hospital and home care, this program develops a continuum system to ensure discharged patients from BRGHGMC receive continued medical care through community health workers. Through interaction with LGU nurses and the local health teams, the program decongests ERs, avoids readmissions, and reduces healthcare expenses. It is not just a discharge protocol, but a model of care continuity that resets the way patient recovery can be co-managed by hospitals and communities.
The Riverside Bacolod Cancer Care Center's Cancer Navigators Program ranked third. The Cancer Navigators program empowers cancer patients and their families using a whole-person care strategy. Trained navigators assist patients from diagnosis to treatment scheduling and referral, while financial advisors link them to assistance programs and support groups. Outside hospital doors, the program raises community awareness, increases services in Negros Occidental, and assures that no patient travels alone through a cancer process.
Other GCARSIH 2024 Finalists: Creative, Impactful, and Community-Driven
The Katatagan Plus: A Community-Based Mental Health Program implemented by the Ateneo de Manila University, USAID RenewHealth, and the Psychological Association of the Philippines. Created originally for survivors of Typhoon Yolanda in 2013, Katatagan Plus was retooled in 2023 as an early intervention mental health program for the youth. Implemented in six local government units (LGUs) among trained non-specialists in schools and communities, it enhances coping mechanisms and resilience while tackling the nation's increasing mental health crisis.
The LISA Robot: Logistic Indoor Service Assistant of the University of Santo Tomas. Born out of the pandemic era of COVID-19, the LISA Robot is a telepresence and logistics support system that mitigates healthcare workers' exposure to infection. It automates medical supply delivery on hospital grounds and facilitates remote doctor-patient communication. Supported by DOST-PCHRD and pre-commercialization stage, LISA is a step ahead in tech-enabled healthcare.
The Medical Mobile Clinic by ABCs for Global Health. Since 2016, this mobile clinic has brought essential health services to underserved communities in Pampanga, including indigenous groups and detainees at the provincial jail. With a rotating team of volunteers and donors, it offers diagnostics, treatment, and health education to those with limited or no access to regular healthcare. It is a model of grassroots healthcare delivery that combines mobility, compassion, and sustainability.
The Mnemonic Memory Training for Older Adults by Mr. Ion Gregorio, Tondo Medical Center. Focusing on cognitive aging, this four-week course builds the memory confidence and recall techniques of older people who have no pre-existing impairments of memory. Conducted in collaboration with a government-home for the aged, it employs scientifically established mnemonic strategies for overcoming everyday memory difficulties, and maintaining healthy aging and independence.
The PCS ACT NOW (Access, Care, Triage) of the Philippine Cancer Society. ACT NOW raises breast and cervical cancer screening rates in Quezon City with mobile clinics and an online triage system. Removing financial and geographical barriers, it reaches women from poor communities and establishes a scalable model for cancer prevention services localized to where they are needed most.
The Quezon Provincial Health Office's Refer Quezon: Health Navigation and Referral System. Implemented in 2022, this 24/7 hotline offers teleconsultations, referrals, and health navigation real-time to patients. Backed by provincial hospitals and funded by LGU, it decongests access to Universal Health Care (UHC) services and coordinates better among health providers and constituents.
The Southern Philippines Medical Center's Telepsychiatry for OFWs. In consideration of Overseas Filipino Workers' mental health, this innovation provides culturally appropriate telepsychiatric interventions through OWWA and POLO personnel. Piloted at the start in Kuwait, the program facilitates continuity and is now being scaled up with institutional and government backing for integration across UHC.
Text by Charmaine A. Lingdas
Photos by January R. Kanindot
