JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that technology access, digital literacy and telehealth access has become more crucial than ever before. At the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at the University of California, two projects are focused on communities have the least access to quality health care services including low-income workers in rural areas as well as low-income seniors in their community.

Objective:

Co-designed technology innovation is a core competency of CITRIS Health. This presentation will focus on two of CITRIS Health co-designed signature programs: ACTIVATE and Lighthouse. Co-designed innovations have the intended outcome of improving access to technology, increasing technology literacy, and ultimately improve health outcomes.

Methods:

Co-design refers to a participatory approach to designing solutions, in which community members are treated as equal collaborators in the design process. They give feedback; they try out devices. It is part of an innovation process. Key components of a co-design process involve: • Intentionally involving users in designing solutions • Postponing design decisions until after gathering feedback • Synthesizing feedback from participants into insights • Developing solutions based on feedback

Results:

Both projects have engaged formal evaluations to assess the process of implementation as well as assess outcomes. Additionally each project has a systematic process for monitoring its own implementation and key metrics. Common near term outcomes include positive feedback from co-designers about the inclusivity of the design progress and optimism that technology selections, training and interventions will lead to intended outcomes.

Conclusions:

Ultimately, the intention of these co-designed innovations is to create models that are feasible and sustainable. They will provide a roadmap for both public and private partners, setting a gold standard in California and across the nation.