Health equity has been the center of attention at international and national levels for decades. However, despite significant advancements in healthcare, health disparity is prevalent within and across countries, remaining a pressing global challenge. Within the health sector, efforts to achieve health equity have primarily focused on improving access to healthcare services and addressing the social determinants of health. However, issues related to empowerment, participation, and capacity building—and their impact on health equity—have not been fully addressed. Many interventions that address health equity consider individuals as simple receivers of health products or services, and not as a driving force or agent that has an important role in a more equitable, healthy world. Capacity building, social participation, and empowerment have been recognized as transformative strategies to bridge health gaps by fostering resilience, enhancing access to care, and enabling equitable health outcomes. However, understanding the mechanisms through which they operate and evaluating their effectiveness remains crucial for advancing policies and interventions that promote health equity.

This Research Topic seeks to bring together research and perspectives that explore the intersection of these three key pillars—capacity building, social participation, and empowerment—in achieving equitable health outcomes. We aim to provide a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue, fostering collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working to achieve health equity. Our goal is to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge regarding the assumptions, conceptual frameworks, theories, approaches, methods, and empirical research that expand the existing body of knowledge or generate new knowledge on the impact of participation, empowerment, and capacity-building at the individual, community, institutional, national and international level on health equity.

This Research Topic will highlight successful frameworks, best practices, and challenges in implementing capacity-building initiatives, participatory health approaches, and empowerment-driven interventions. It will also examine how these strategies contribute to sustainable health systems and improved well-being, particularly for marginalized and underserved populations.

To gather further insights into the impact of participation, empowerment, and capacity building, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

- The conceptual and theoretical framework that enriches the existing knowledge on the understanding of, and association between participation, empowerment, capacity building, and health equity;

- The methodological approaches to address health disparity through participation, empowerment, and capacity building among individuals, communities, and institutions, at the national or international level;

- Implementational science approaches to address health disparities through participation, empowerment, and capacity building;

- Studies on policies and interventions addressing structural inequalities and enhancing empowerment and capacities to address them;

- Evaluation of the measures and approaches towards participation and empowerment, like community engagement and participatory decision-making, grassroots movements and advocacy, collaborative governance, and multi-sectoral partnerships in enhancing health outcomes and increasing health equity;

- Impact of digital technologies on issues related to empowerment, participation, and capacity building;

- Measuring the impact and effectiveness of community-based and other interventions and programs that promote participation, empowerment, and capacity building on health equity;

- Assessing the implementation science approaches to health equity interventions;

- Case studies and lessons learned on the above topic.

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Capacity Building, Social Participation, and Empowerment: Key to Achieving Health Equity