Participatory design in telehealth research: Practical case examples

Participatory design (PD) is a methodology that emphasizes user participation in the design of new technologies to leverage change within organizations and services. PD originated in the computer science field in the 1970s and 1980s when new programs and technologies were developed to empower workers, by involving them in decisions that affected them. PD in health research has been proven to change clinical practice. Genuine user involvement that includes all stakeholders, and robust collaborations across sciences, sectors, and disciplines are basic elements of successful research to change clinical practice and to implement novel technical and organizational approaches. This paper summarizes seven case studies involving the use of PD in telehealth research. All cases presented promoted organizational changes supported by health information and communications technology, and have been implemented at either international, national, regional, or local levels. We describe how PD can be applied in health sciences and used to facilitate organizational changes, new perspectives, and new communications methods. The relevance and suitability of PD as a research design in health science is explained, and recommendations for conducting PD studies in telehealth research are presented. In PD, mutual learning and co-creation is facilitated. Consequently, learning from users, rather than studying them, corroborates our understanding and the emergence of new knowledge.