Co-creation between patients and researchers to design a Top 10 good practices in digital health

The Patient Advisory Council of Catalonia (CCPC) of the Department of Health, the TIC Salut Social Foundation and the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) are working together on the development of a Top 10 of good practices in digital health. To carry out this project several work sessions are currently being held to compile the needs of the public, placing patients at the centre of design and research in digital health tools.

The TIC Salut Social Foundation collaborates by contributing its knowledge and experience in the development of apps and digital assets for health through the Certification Service of mobile apps. This knowledge is laid out in the Good practice guide for developing digital assets for the general public.

Co-creation between patients and researchers

Yesterday, the second shared design session took place at the provincial government headquarters in Girona. The CCPC selects the participants from among the members of the bodies that form part of it, taking into account that there is geographic and gender representation and a diversity of pathologies, as well as different levels of digital literacy. The sessions will be held in health centres in different parts of the territory.

The next sessions will take place on 26 November (Tarragona), 10 December (Sabadell) and 21 January (online session). Registration for this participatory process is available by clicking on the following link.

The co-creation process will use its own Design Thinking methodologies and will use the Health Participation Guide as a working framework, adapted from the Framework of Citizen Participation in Health of the Government of Catalonia, which places patients, caregivers and the community at the centre of health policies.

The project follows the principles of RRI (Responsible Research and Innovation), that is, it encourages participation and open access to research and includes its return, in addition to encouraging inclusion. This research promotes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Number 3, on health and well-being, Number 5 on gender equality, and Number 10 on reducing inequalities.

Adherence and use of mobile apps and digital assets

Mobile applications and digital interventions are increasingly prominent in the field of health. Healthcare systems are increasingly incorporating digital tools to optimise patient care and improve outcomes. The number of patients using apps to monitor their physical activity, nutrition and to manage chronic diseases is also increasing.

One of the challenges to maximising the effectiveness of these digital interventions in health is the lack of continuity in their adoption. Several studies show that patient engagement with mobile health apps is low, and that more than half of health apps are uninstalled one month after they are downloaded. Lack of interest and demotivation are the main causes, among other factors, such as the lack of functionalities that the patient wants and the difficulties in using them.

In this regard, one of the main reasons for the low engagement with these tools is that they are usually developed with little or no participation from the patients or citizens who will be the users, and this means that they are not suited to their needs.

“Increasingly, we have more expert patients, who more knowledgeable about their disease and its prognosis. It is logical that if we want to design digital tools or do research projects that affect them, we should factor them in. We want to know what they expect or what they consider important when carrying out a research project or designing digital health tools”. explains Oriol Yuguero, researcher at the e-RLab of the eHealth Centre at the University of Catalonia and project leader. The e-RLab research group works to promote the inclusion of social aspects in mobile health applications, in addition to promoting ethics and equity in access to digital health.

At the Department of Health, the Secretary of Health Care and Participation, Glòria Gálvez, states that it is“an innovative research initiative in digital health that places patients at the centre of the innovation process. The main objective is to ensure that new digital technologies are suited to the real needs of patients from the outset”.