Upskilling Consumers for the Digital Health Era: A Content Analysis of Resources for Consumer Representative Training.

Abstract

Background: Over the past decade, digital health research has exponentially increased. Concurrently, consumer involvement in digital health research has been growing but is often relegated to the later stages of research such as user experience testing, for which a fundamental capability is digital health literacy. For meaningful participation, consumers require accessible resources to understand digital health tool development, evaluation and implementation. Free availability of such resources to consumer representatives and advocates is unclear.   Aim: To examine freely available resources that enable consumers to learn about digital health tool development, evaluation and implementation.   Methods: A content analysis was conducted, identifying keywords with consumer advocates. One investigator conducted this search in February 2024 on online resources, recording keyword frequencies and context alignment. Two investigators independently extracted the data and discrepancies were resolved through discussion.   Results: From an initial 129 keywords, 13 MeSH headings were derived to include in the initial search, which increased to 23 keywords that were searched in a subsequent refined search. 21 websites were analysed, including Australian NGOs, government sites, and international organisations. While terms like 'digital health' were common, limited resources were available to upskill in the development, evaluation and implementation of digital health tools.   Discussion: The extent of consumer involvement in digital health research is compromised due to limited available resources to upskill consumer representatives and advocates. This poses a challenge continued consumer involvement in digital health research as digital health technologies are ubiquitous yet evolving.