Grant: Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) program

There is a growing interest in using participatory approaches when designing, integrating, monitoring and evaluating artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in health services. Researchers suggest that such approaches may help with the acceptance and adoption of these technologies. Furthermore, the use of participatory approaches in other sectors is said to mitigate algorithmic injustice and ensure that the potential benefits of AI are experienced by all members of society. However, it is unclear to what extent communities have the agency, competency and decision-making power to meaningfully participate in health services and public health AI projects. This represents a significant research and practice gap that warrants attention, given the ongoing adoption of AI in health services and commitments to equitable, patient-oriented, community-engaged health research and interventions. This applied research project will co-develop and pilot an equity-centred, context-specific toolkit for community participation in AI solutions in health services and public health. The overall objective of this project is to ensure the use of AI in health services and public health does not undermine the health of communities but rather improves population health outcomes and health equity. Using a systems thinking approach, this project will a) undertake a brokered dialogue, on the contentious topic of automated decision-making in the public sector, to determine strategies that ensure AI solutions promote the well-being of communities and mitigate AI-generated harms, b) integrate these strategies into the co-development and piloting of an equity-centred toolkit for community participation in AI solutions in health services in Ontario, and c) determine the impact of this toolkit on communities engaged in participatory AI approaches in health services.