Centering Youth Voices in Digital Health Design

Centering Youth Voices in Digital Health Design

Humanities, Social Sciences & Thought Medicine & Health MBMedicineMBFMedical and health informatics
🎙 Women's Health Research Institute 👥 251 📅 June 15, 2026 ⏱ 59 min 👁 16 📄 expert opinion 🧭 2026-08-16
Available in: English (current) Français

Keywords

youthco-designdigital healthperiod painchronic pain

Summary

This webinar, hosted by the Women’s Health Research Institute, features three presentations on centering youth voices in digital health design. Zeba Khan discusses the development of ‘Period Pain is Real Pain’, a website and social media campaign co-designed with youth to validate and educate about period pain. She highlights the co-design process, including workshops and youth-led content creation, and reports reaching 800,000 people in a month. Dr. Caitlyn Berer presents the ‘Living Lab at Home’ initiative, which aims to make health research more accessible and reciprocal by using data visualization to feed data back to families. She emphasizes the importance of capturing dynamic pain experiences and addressing equity gaps. Maline Baron introduces her work on a risk-benefit communication tool for donating wearable device data to research, focusing on informed consent and transparency. The presentations underscore the value of youth and family engagement in creating relevant and effective digital health tools, with a shared emphasis on flexibility, reciprocity, and accessibility.

159 words

Critical Evaluation

Value of the Information & Strength of the Argument

The value of the information is high, as it provides concrete examples of co-design methodologies and their outcomes. Zeba Khan’s presentation offers detailed insights into the process of engaging youth in creating a health campaign, including the use of workshops, dot democracy voting, and youth-generated content. The argumentation is supported by data on reach and engagement, such as 800,000 people reached and 6,000 website visitors. Dr. Berer’s presentation is equally valuable, presenting a compelling case for using data visualization to enhance reciprocal relationships in research. She argues that traditional pain scales are static and fail to capture variability, and she supports this with qualitative feedback from families. The argumentation is logical and grounded in research. Maline Baron’s presentation, while less detailed, addresses an important ethical issue in digital health research. Overall, the arguments are well-structured and supported by evidence, though the video is a webinar and lacks the rigor of a peer-reviewed presentation.

Scientific Rigor, Source Quality, Title Accuracy

The scientific rigor is generally high. The presenters are researchers at UBC and BC Children’s Hospital, and they reference their own published work, such as the paper in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. Zeba Khan mentions a report with more details, and the period pain quiz was developed and validated by researchers in Australia. The sources are credible, though not all are explicitly cited in the video. The title accurately reflects the content, focusing on youth voices in digital health design. The webinar is well-structured, with each presentation building on the previous one. However, the video is a recording of a live event, and some technical details are not fully explained. Overall, the sources and title are appropriate and contribute to the video’s credibility.

294 words

Title / Content Match

The title accurately reflects the content, which focuses on involving youth in the design of digital health tools.

Quality & Reliability

8/10

The video features three researchers presenting their work on youth engagement in digital health design. The content is based on their own research and clinical experience, with references to published studies and a report. The presentations are detailed and reflect a rigorous co-design process, though the video is a webinar recording and not a peer-reviewed publication.

Key Moments

Cited Sources

  • Period Pain is Real Pain website — Mentioned by Zeba Khan as the main output of the campaign.
  • Report on the co-design process — Zeba Khan mentions a report with more details, but the URL is not provided in the video.
  • Paper in Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics — Dr. Berer references this paper for the qualitative findings from family engagement.

Concurring Sources

  • Period Pain is Real Pain website — The website is the main output of the campaign and aligns with the presentation.

Contribution & Novelties

The webinar provides valuable insights into co-designing digital health tools with youth, emphasizing the importance of flexibility, reciprocity, and accessibility. Zeba Khan’s project demonstrates a successful model for youth engagement, with tangible outcomes in reach and engagement. Dr. Berer’s Living Lab at Home introduces a novel approach to data visualization that can enhance clinical care and research participation. Maline Baron’s work addresses the ethical considerations of data donation, which is an emerging area in digital health.

Pour aller plus loin :

123 words

Radar Profile

The radar profile shows high scores in quantity and quality of information, reflecting the detailed presentations and credible sources. The technical level is moderate, as the content is accessible to a general audience. The overall reliability is high, given the expertise of the presenters and the use of published research.

Reliability 8/10