A systemic, multistakeholder participatory approach to research, innovation and action agenda setting for more integrated and effective prevention of HIV and other STIs: the case of Catalonia, Spain.
- 1Living Lab for Health, IrsiCaixa Research Institute, IGTP, Badalona, Spain.
- 2Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Abstract
Introduction
It is increasingly acknowledged that transformative change is needed to effectively address the complex and persistent health challenges facing society today. Realizing transformative change requires multistakeholder processes that co-define and implement research and innovation (R&I) priorities and actions that better respond to the complexity of these challenges in a contextualized manner. However, there is limited insight into the operationalization of participatory systems approaches for identifying the systemic elements of these complex challenges and for defining and implementing R&I topics and action agendas to address them. In this paper, we therefore aimed to analyze the results of a participatory agenda-setting process on the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that used a systems approach and took place in Catalonia, Spain.Methods
For the agenda-setting process, the innovative System-oriented Dialogue Model (SDM) was used, focusing on the exploration, consultation and integration phases of the model. It involved a wide variety of participants (n = 687), including secondary school students (n = 660) and professionals (n = 27), i.e., researchers, healthcare professionals, civil society organization representatives, communicators and policymakers. Twenty focus groups were organized to identify (1) a broad range of systemic elements of the problem (i.e., needs and barriers) and (2) solutions (i.e., R&I topics and actions) for the prevention of HIV and other STIs, and a dialog meeting took place to validate the final agenda.Results
The participants identified a wide range of needs, barriers and solutions covering multiple relevant R&I topics and actions in relation to prevention strategies, healthcare access, community-based activities and policy development. The results were compiled in a final agenda structured around eight missions. Two were related to health services and products: "access to prevention, diagnosis, treatment and services" and "development of biomedical tools for prevention and diagnosis." Others were related to systemic elements such as "assessment of stakeholders' needs and interventions," "resources for R&I, prevention, interventions and health inequalities" and "governance, regulation and human rights."Discussion
Using the SDM phases exploration, consultation and integration, we generated a shared agenda for prevention of HIV and other STIs, covering multiple areas with key systemic elements within (underserved) R&I topics and actions. To guarantee subsequent implementation of the resulting agenda with sustained participatory, systems approaches, we recommend implementing the next phases of the SDM with participatory research with specific attention for governance, accountability and funding constraints. This may require mixed-methods research involving the stakeholders that may already agree on the ownership of the missions and taking into account key quantitative studies on benchmarks, realistic implementation pathways and opportunity costs.
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BibTeX
@article{malagrida2026systemic,
title = {{A systemic, multistakeholder participatory approach to research, innovation and action agenda setting for more integrated and effective prevention of HIV and other STIs: the case of Catalonia, Spain.}},
author = {Rosina Malagrida and Carina A C M Pittens and Marjolein B M Zweekhorst and Jacqueline E W Broerse},
journal = {Frontiers in public health},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1783030},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42846520},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A systemic, multistakeholder participatory approach to research, innovation and action agenda setting for more integrated and effective prevention of HIV and other STIs: the case of Catalonia, Spain.
AU - Rosina Malagrida
AU - Carina A C M Pittens
AU - Marjolein B M Zweekhorst
AU - Jacqueline E W Broerse
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
JO - Frontiers in public health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1783030
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42846520
AB - Introduction It is increasingly acknowledged that transformative change is needed to effectively address the complex and persistent health challenges facing society today. Realizing transformative change requires multistakeholder processes that co-define and implement research and innovation (R&I) priorities and actions that better respond to the complexity of these challenges in a contextualized manner. However, there is limited insight into the operationalization of participatory systems approaches for identifying the systemic elements of these complex challenges and for defining and implementing R&I topics and action agendas to address them. In this paper, we therefore aimed to analyze the results of a participatory agenda-setting process on the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that used a systems approach and took place in Catalonia, Spain.Methods For the agenda-setting process, the innovative System-oriented Dialogue Model (SDM) was used, focusing on the exploration, consultation and integration phases of the model. It involved a wide variety of participants (n = 687), including secondary school students (n = 660) and professionals (n = 27), i.e., researchers, healthcare professionals, civil society organization representatives, communicators and policymakers. Twenty focus groups were organized to identify (1) a broad range of systemic elements of the problem (i.e., needs and barriers) and (2) solutions (i.e., R&I topics and actions) for the prevention of HIV and other STIs, and a dialog meeting took place to validate the final agenda.Results The participants identified a wide range of needs, barriers and solutions covering multiple relevant R&I topics and actions in relation to prevention strategies, healthcare access, community-based activities and policy development. The results were compiled in a final agenda structured around eight missions. Two were related to health services and products: "access to prevention, diagnosis, treatment and services" and "development of biomedical tools for prevention and diagnosis." Others were related to systemic elements such as "assessment of stakeholders' needs and interventions," "resources for R&I, prevention, interventions and health inequalities" and "governance, regulation and human rights."Discussion Using the SDM phases exploration, consultation and integration, we generated a shared agenda for prevention of HIV and other STIs, covering multiple areas with key systemic elements within (underserved) R&I topics and actions. To guarantee subsequent implementation of the resulting agenda with sustained participatory, systems approaches, we recommend implementing the next phases of the SDM with participatory research with specific attention for governance, accountability and funding constraints. This may require mixed-methods research involving the stakeholders that may already agree on the ownership of the missions and taking into account key quantitative studies on benchmarks, realistic implementation pathways and opportunity costs.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -