The Effectiveness of Adaptations for Online Remote Public Deliberation Across Three Continents: Mixed Methods Study

Area of Science:

• Qualitative Research Methods
• Health Ethics
• Digital Health

Background:

• Public deliberation is a method for gathering public perspectives on health ethics.
• Its translation to online formats, especially with a digital divide, is under-explored.
• The MindKind Study investigated young people's views on a mental health databank via online deliberation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the quality of online public deliberation.
• To share learnings from a remote, qualitative research approach.
• To evaluate the feasibility of online deliberation in diverse settings.

Main Methods:

• Conducted 2-hour online deliberation sessions using Zoom.
• Provided participants with multimedia materials on mental health data management.
• Analyzed deliberation quality based on participation, respect, societal perspective, and justification.

Main Results:

• Online deliberation sessions were generally high quality.
• Internet connectivity and multimodal participation sometimes hindered assessment.
• Participants showed deep understanding of materials, but linguistic/semiotic choices and translation posed barriers.

Conclusions:

• Online public deliberation can achieve quality outcomes comparable to in-person methods.
• Researchers must anticipate and plan for technological and linguistic challenges in multinational studies.
• Recommendations include budgeting, logistics, and ensuring participant psychological safety.