A new policy brief, published by the Latin American and Caribbean Hub for Transformative Innovation Policy (HUBLAYCTIP), in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (INC) of Colombia, explores how the experiences of patients, caregivers, families and healthcare teams can drive systemic change in cancer control.
According to one of the lead authors, María Luisa Villalba, “the Policy Brief offers a fundamental understanding of the oncological health system in Colombia. This document underscores the critical need to connect the knowledge and experiences of patients, caregivers, families, and health teams to drive systemic change in comprehensive cancer control.”
The study presents an emerging vision of healthcare transformation in which patients, families, and caregivers are recognised as active participants in innovation and decision-making, rather than passive recipients of treatment.
A Transformative Experiment in Colombia
Over the past five years, researchers from the INC and HUBLAYCTIP have collaborated to design and implement a “Co-Creation Laboratory,” a transformative experiment inspired by the principles of Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP). The laboratory provides a space where patients, families, caregivers, and health professionals collectively explore and design new approaches to comprehensive cancer control.
Using Multi-Criteria Mapping (MCM), the study systematically compared how different stakeholder groups, patients, caregivers, professionals, and doctors, perceive and prioritise key aspects of cancer control. Seven criteria were identified as central to the system’s functioning: communication-information, education-knowledge, access-support, reputation, effectiveness, efficiency, ethics-responsibility, implementation, and comprehensiveness. The analysis revealed strong variability in how these were weighted, underscoring the diversity of perspectives across groups.
Notably, criteria linked to communication, education and access emerged as the most significant and contested. While all actors viewed these as fundamental, their relative importance differed: caregivers emphasised communication and information; doctors prioritised education and knowledge; professionals highlighted access and support; and patients valued education as a means of empowerment. These differences illustrate the potential for more inclusive and effective innovation in cancer control when diverse viewpoints are integrated.
Pathways for Transformative Change
The study outlines three key recommendations for advancing systemic transformation in cancer control.
- Strengthening patient and caregiver associations to build collective agency and ensure their voices shape institutional reform.
- Co-developing digital technologies with, rather than for, patients, aligning innovation processes with real needs and contexts.
- Establishing communities of practice to sustain co-creation and collective learning across professional, policy, and patient domains.
By integrating diverse forms of knowledge, the study demonstrates how the TIP framework can guide transformation in health systems, moving beyond curative logics toward inclusive, preventive, and participatory models of cancer control. In doing so, it contributes not only to Colombia’s ongoing health reform debate but also offers valuable lessons for other countries seeking to reimagine the relationship between science, policy, and society in healthcare transformation.
More about HUBLAYCTIP
The Latin American and Caribbean Hub for Transformative Innovation Policy (HUBLAYCTIP) promotes a new approach to science, technology, and innovation systems in the region, establishing new routes for sustainable development that benefit society through transformation.
Coordinator: Matías Ramírez
HUBLAYCTIP website: https://cta.org.co/hub-innovacion-transformativa/
