Supporting digital health citizenship and youth co-creation of digital first health systems
Few digital initiatives allow young people to meaningfully shape their health futures and co-design digital first health systems that respond to their health priorities. The Lancet and Financial Times Commission on Governing health futures 2030’s report highlights that digital first health systems must be co-designed and governed by young people to be responsive to their health needs and strengthen digital health citizenship. Building on the Commission’s extensive work, young people—including young health professionals—in low and middle-income countries plus vulnerable groups in high income countries will develop a blueprint for youth-centred digital first health systems and a toolkit for advancing digital health citizenship.
The Lab works at the global level with a particular focus on countries with large populations of young people which are predominantly situated in Africa and Asia. Digital and non-digital approaches will also be developed to expand young people’s digital health literacy skills and build their capacity as enfranchised digital health citizens and leaders. Creative and innovative methods such as storytelling, innovation spaces, intergenerational dialogues, workshops and digital platforms will be used to create more inclusive ways of designing policies and testing governance solutions with young people.
What are young people’s priorities for the design and governance of digital first health systems ?
How will health professionals and their training need to adapt ?
Main research questions
What information and tools do young people, including young health professionals, need to become enfranchised digital health citizens ?
How can we more effectively monitor and evaluate meaningful youth enfranchisement, both in governance processes and the DTH-Lab’s work ?
What are young people’s priorities for the design and governance of digital first health systems ?
How will health professionals and their training need to adapt ?
Main research questions
How can we more effectively monitor and evaluate meaningful youth enfranchisement, both in governance processes and the DTH-Lab’s work ?
What information and tools do young people, including young health professionals, need to become enfranchised digital health citizens ?
Conceptualizing digital first health systems with young people
In the conception phase, the Commission invited young people to share what a digital first health system means to them and how such a system can deliver better health futures as part of a #MyHealthFutures campaign. These viewpoints were shared through various channels including social media platforms, the Youth Network and an online survey. A collection of responses were compiled into a video and presented during a session on digital transformation for health at the World Health Summit in 2022.
This campaign launched the preliminary thinking around digital first health systems co-designed by young people that includes futures/foresight thinking, youth capacity building, strengthened youth leadership and inclusion of youth voices at the global, regional and country level from conceptualisation to implementation.
Through a series of youth consultations at the global, regional and country level, the DTH-Lab will deliver a global and regional report as well as a blueprint for designing digital first health systems aimed at policy makers, technology companies and other stakeholders.