A Scoping Review of Health-Related Citizen Science Projects Involving Indigenous Peoples in Australia and Internationally

Issue Addressed

Citizen science, an approach to health promotion that involves public participation and collaboration, has been posited as a promising approach to reach diverse or marginalised populations. This scoping review aims to explore the involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and other First Nations and Indigenous peoples internationally in citizen science in health-related studies. While current health promotion in Indigenous communities is already strongly embedded in participatory approaches, we sought to examine whether citizen science methodologies have been used in health promotion and see what it could add.

Methods

We searched three databases for self-identified citizen science studies on health-related topics in the peer-reviewed literature using the term ‘citizen science’ combined with search terms relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and global Indigenous populations. We recorded data about project characteristics and the citizen science approach used and appraised the cultural engagement quality of studies included.

Results

Eleven articles were included for full-text review. Included studies focused on a range of health-related topics, including environmental issues, physical health, food security, and youth mental health. Six studies (55%) adopted a co-created citizen science approach in which citizen scientists had input in key project phases and activities as collaborators and partners. The remaining studies took contributory (27%) or collaborative (9%) approaches, while no studies were citizen-led. The cultural engagement quality of included citizen science projects was positive overall, although there were areas for improvement, specifically having clear Indigenous research leadership and governance, and transparent agreements on rights to cultural and intellectual property arising from the research.

Conclusion

Citizen science projects focusing on health-related issues among Indigenous peoples and communities are relatively few. The potential of this approach to enrich current community-based participatory or co-design approaches to health promotion among Indigenous communities remains to be determined.

So What?

Future citizen science projects involving Indigenous people and communities should prioritise and support Indigenous-led citizen science approaches where communities initiate, lead, and govern research processes. Cultural engagement quality could be improved, particularly in relation to having Indigenous-led research governance, and rights of access to and protections of Indigenous intellectual and cultural property.