Involving People with Cognitive and Communication Impairments in Mobile Health App Design

Multiple challenges face people with cognitive and communication impairments when asked to be involved in the design of technology that is appropriate for them. This population is under-represented in healthcare research and have health inequalities relative to most people. The work discussed here concerns how to adapt research processes to suit people with these difficulties when developing smartphone apps to give access to health promotion information, an area in which health inequalities arise. Strategies are identified to assist participants to understand the proposed area of work, to give consent to participation and be involved with activities such as evaluation. A combination of adaptations is proposed to engage people who would otherwise be excluded. It is clear that strategies used to make research participation accessible can assist people with cognitive and communication impairments to influence and inform the development of technology for their use.