Moses Tetui - School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
Anna-Karin Hurtig - Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
Frida Jonsson - Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
Eleanor Whyle - School of Public Health & Family Medicine (SPHFM), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Joseph Zulu - School of Public Health & Family Medicine (SPHFM), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Helen Schneider - School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa
Alison Hernandez - Centre for the Study of Equity and Governance in Health Systems, Guatemala City, Guatemala
The Chaminuka Collective - A full list of the investigators of the Chaminuka Collective is provided at the end of the article

While there have been increased calls for strengthening community health systems (CHSs), key priorities for this field have not been fully articulated. This paper seeks to fill this gap, presenting a collaboratively defined research agenda, accompanied by a ‘manifesto’ on strengthening research and practice in the CHS. The CHS research agenda domains were developed through a modified concept mapping process with a team of ۳۳ experts on the CHS including policy-makers, implementers and researchers from institutions in six countries: Uganda, Guatemala, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania and Zambia. The process began remotely with brainstorming research priorities and concluded in a one-week workshop that was held in Zambia where priorities for strengthening CHS were discussed, grouped into domains, interpreted, and drafted into a collective declaration. Eight domains of research priorities for CHSs were identified: clarifying the purpose and values of the CHS, ensure inclusivity; design, implementation and monitoring of strategies to strengthen the CHS; social, political and historical contexts of CHS; community health workers (CHWs); social accountability; the interface between the CHS and the broader health system; governance and stewardship; and finally, the ethical methodologies for researching the CHS. By harnessing a set of diverse and rich experiences and perspectives on CHS through a structured process, a multifaceted research agenda and manifesto that transcend context, disciplines and time were developed. We posit this as an entry into greater debate and diversity in the field as we continue to find ways to strengthen research and practice in the CHS.

Community Health Systems, Priority Setting, Research Agenda, Multi-disciplinary, Diverse Contexts