Economic concerns might be weighed against public health impacts. As a result, political activism and research might become intertwined, leading to a public perception of science as a field that can fall under the influence of those in power to create an ingenuine, politically-motivated outcome. Thus, citizen science poses the challenge of building connections between citizens and scientists, while also maintaining the quality and authenticity of research

Public health issues are often publicly disputed

Studies show that you should incentivize citizens through the desire to be part of something greater than them, being a role model and inspiration for others, the willingness to give to others, and personal growth.

Motivating people to participate in public health research

Do the involved citizens actually represent the group under investigation? Women, for example, participate more in popular epidemiology than men due to women’s family roles and their tendency towards having a relationship-focused view of the world. Such lack of representation is not an issue for mass data collection, but rather for smaller, more participative studies that involve identifying and reflecting on community needs.

Representation

The professional vantage point and skills of researchers might be difficult to reconcile with the empirical knowledge and skills of citizens. Some solutions to this potential misalignment include training, greater communication between citizens and scientists, and expanding the focus of the research in order to fully understand the community’s situation and health issues.

Potential misalignment between scientists and citizens

Despite the benefits of using citizen science in public health research, certain challenges in doing so must be acknowledged, along with proposed solutions to these challenges.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

This Dutch study explores the question of whether citizen science can be effectively used in decision making regarding public health policies. To this end, challenges that come with incorporating citizen science into public health are discussed, as well as ways these issues can be remedied. Finally, a framework for using citizen science in public health is suggested.

Citizen Science for public health

Den Broeder, L., Devilee, J., Van Oers, H., Schuit, A. J., & Wagemakers, A. (2018). Citizen Science for public health. Health promotion international, 33(3), 505–514. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daw086

- To identify the community’s needs
- To move national-level policy making to the municipality level (tailor it to make it more local)
- To promote participative approaches to decision making over professionally driven approaches


Why might policy makers want to involve local residents in health policy decisions?

Policy making is complex, not just a simple implementation of evidence into practice. Many factors, beyond just evidence, weigh into the final decision. As a result, policies may not seem to reflect citizens’ perspectives, even when citizen viewpoints have been considered. Furthermore, citizens often find that the policy does not apply to the ideas they had in mind or their own priorities.

Why is it difficult to involve citizens in public health decisions?

Roy et al. (2012), Wiggins & Crownston (2011), and Haklay (2012)

Three taxonomies of citizen science

Combining these taxonomies into a general framework for citizen science

General framework for citizen science

The advantages of citizen science include increased research capacity, better knowledge, and benefits for citizen participants.

Advantages of citizen science

Although citizen science projects are rare in public health, there are a couple of approaches that have been used to involve citizens in public health research.

Examples of using citizen science in public health

Difficulties in using citizen science for public health research

- Access to study population that are difficult to reach
- Greater empowerment of citizens in approaching personal and public health issues (comes from their knowledge and participation in studies that don’t just involve data collection)
- Better population-level health
- Greater health literacy (abilities and skills that allow a person to manage their health more effectively) in citizenry
- Greater sense of coherence (experiencing the world as more meaningful, manageable, and comprehensible), which leads to better health
- Enhancement of community values and social ties/cohesion, which contribute to the health of the community


What citizen science could bring to public health

To summarize, participation in citizen science projects leads to the following effects.
- For the research: crowdsourcing leading to greater research capacity, traditional/local/lay knowledge bolsters existing knowledge systems
- For the citizens: health literacy, empowerment, community building/social capital/social learning and trust, changes in attitudes/norms/values, active participation in public health policy, Sense of Coherence (SOC). All of these then positively contribute to community health.


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